Point number thirteen calls for:
The establishment of generous immigration quotas, for the same reasons which the Labor Party welcomed the "new Australians" after World War II—to help build our nation. From the very beginning, Australia has been a nation of hope and opportunity for people of many nationalities and religious backgrounds. While the CEC is opposed to the pious fraud known as "multiculturalism", because it pits one group against another, we warmly welcome those coming here to make a better life for themselves and their families. They will help build Australia (which will suffer a severe labor shortage as the rest of this platform is implemented), just as other generations of immigrants have done.
Australia is one of the largest countries in the world, with one of the smallest populations. The great visionaries in our past all recognised the dire need for Australia to increase its population. John Curtin said, in his 1937 Fremantle speech:
"The essentials to the building up of the requisite population for the security of the Australian people are work, security, ample food, clothing and shelter. By providing these, the Labor Party will ensure the competence of Australia not only to attract migrants, but to hold them when it gets them. We need increasing population to increase our strength."
Dr. J.J.C. Bradfield, the great Australian engineer who designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Bradfield water diversion scheme, wrote in Rydges magazine, in October 1941:
"To populate and develop Australia we must spend money to make money. The money spent would all be for labour and materials of Australian origin. Australia has 2,000 million acres of land of which under 10 percent are alienated. An expenditure of 5 shillings per acre or 500 million pounds, in well thought out schemes throughout Australia during the next 40 years would greatly increase the value of our heritage, and add the population we need to hold what we have. To do this we should endeavour to have a population of 40 millions say 50 years hence. We must plan how to get these millions; closer settlement and common sense in developing our primary and secondary industries will induces people to come here. Australia eventually should easily accommodate 90 million people, 30 per square mile.
"Europe has a population of 121 people per square mile, Belgium has 698 per square mile, the United Kingdom 506, Italy 339, Germany 352 and Russia 58 per square mile. Asia has a population of 73 per square mile, Japan 398 per square mile, China and India 200. Africa's population is 13 per square mile, North and Central America 21, South America 13 and Australia 2.3 per square mile....
"Australia needs to adopt a long range constructive policy to develop, populate and defend itself. Australia must control her own economic independence, not London. A rejuvenated inland, creating employment and settling a population in comfortable circumstances would be one part of such a long range policy. The nation without vision perishes, but the heart and mind of any vigorous people responds to the dream of its national destiny and will endeavour to make full use of tis heritage. We can hold the Commonwealth only by effective occupation.
"We must make no mean plans for our future development, for mean plans have no magic to stir any man's blood or awaken enthusiasm in any one. The cost of the major works should be financed by the Commonwealth without interest, as Australia would be spending money to increase its wealth.... "
Sadly, nearly 60 years after Bradfield wrote these words, we are only half way to the 40 million he envisioned would populate Australia by the early 1990s. There is a very simple solution to the fear of either ethnic tensions due to increased immigration, or that immigrants will take jobs from Australians, or undercut our living standards, and that is rapid economic growth. In other words, the answer to "White Australia", is, a "Growing Australia". And that is the way you give immigrants a real chance to be happy and to contribute greatly to their new country, Australia, as opposed to the counterproductive policy of "multiculturalism", which pits groups against each other for a piece of an ever-shrinking pie. Thus, our forefathers like Curtin and Bradfield could declare with conviction that Australia needed to increase its population, because they knew they had the economic policies to make it work.
