Professor Tim Flannery, 2007 Australian of the year and one of Australia’s best known scientists, has spoken out against both high immigration and the need for multiculturalism.  Whilst Flannery’s views on Australia’s population are well known, it’s refreshing to hear a person that is held in such esteem also tackle the sensitive topic of multiculturalism. Professor Flannery made the comments whilst participating in a debate with the topic of Is Our Rate of Immigration Too High?

Flannery opened the debate for the affirmative, and was quick to pull out arguments that regular readers will be familiar with.

After some opening words he told the audience that business, government and the bureaucracy will all favour high immigration for differing reasons.  He stated that just because these interest groups support high immigration, doesn’t mean it’s in the interest of ordinary Australians to pursue high population growth.

Later in the debate he said that Australians were the heaviest carbon users in the world, meaning that people that come to this country from almost anywhere in the world will result in an increase in global carbon emissions.  He stated that our population growth made it much more difficult to fulfil our international obligations on greenhouse emissions. Flannery went on to say that we were engaged in high immigration “without a single consideration for these environmental issues”.  In emphasising that point he noted how Ross Garnaut when reporting on Australia’s emissions trading scheme “just took our rate of population growth for granted, it wasn’t even questioned that we might vary it, and yet it’s clearly within our gift to vary it.”

Towards the end of his allotted time Flannery anticipated that his opponents would argue that high immigration “has been good for this country because its fostered multiculturalism and therefore a tolerance for human beings of many different kinds from around the planet.”  Flannery rejected this argument, saying “That is truly an argument from the 80s or earlier.”

Expanding on this thought, Flannery said that “There was a time when travel was so limited, when trade and people’s experience of others overseas was so limited and where there was no Internet that we actually needed a program like that to foster mutual tolerance.  Those days are well and truly gone.”  He later said that “The argument that we need a massive immigration program to promote tolerance between people just has no, has no legs”

Flannery also talked about the ageing of the population, and noted that during the baby boom of the 50s people weren’t concerned about how we were going to care for all these helpless babies.  Our society grew wealthier as time went by and we managed, just like we could with the ageing of the population.  Referring to the idea that immigration is a solution to this population ageing, he expressed his concerns, saying “It doesn’t seem to have a natural end.  Should we seek to grow our population forever to avoid the inevitable situation of an ageing population?”

Tim Flannery is a sometimes controversial figure.  His outspoken persona has led him to make predictions regarding the environment that have not always eventuated.  He’s also no stranger to controversy, and has even been quoted as saying that he supports sustainable whaling.

While there isn’t any senior politician willing to stand up and argue that our rate of immigration should be drastically cut it’s good to have people like Tim Flannery arguing the good cause, regardless of how unpopular or non PC it is.