When Peter Costello told Australians to have “one for mum, one for dad and one for the country”, I listened dammit. Thus, I have three children. I would like to have four but no male public figure has yet endorsed that number so I’m stalled. Anyone? Anyone? And also? Why don’t women tell other women how many babies to have?
Australian entrepreneur and businessman, Dick Smith thinks 3 is too many. He’s pushing for 2. Sorry Dick.
He told an urban developers conference today that Australian families should limit the number of children they have to two. Like a slightly larger version of China’s ‘One Child’ policy.
Vicki Campion reported his comments on the Daily Telegraph website:
“Likening high-rise apartments to chicken coops, the former Australian of the Year thanked property developers at an Urban Taskforce population debate for “not lynching” him after he attacked their drive for profits and called for an end to growth addiction.
“It’s either going to be forced on us or we are going to plan,” Mr Smith said. “I would like to see Australia stabilise at 24 to 25 million.
“I don’t see it by force. I see it by saying to parents, ‘It’s best to have two kids’. I see us having an immigration intake of 70,000 per year.”
And with that, Dick Smith expects families to dash to the 24/7 vasectomy clinic and tie a knot in it. Or quit getting frisky in the bedroom. Sure, that’s nice if that’s what individual families want to choose, but hardly a policy pronouncement beyond a couple of headlines in the press.
The population issue is at the core of it, and has resurfaced today. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd advocated for a ‘big Australia’ which scared some as they noted our resources and infrastructure networks were already being strained with 21 million residents. Then Julia Gillard rolled Rudd and pared back on the rhetoric, advocating for a ‘sustainable’ Australia.
It was only back in 2006 that then Treasurer Peter Costello was urging every family to have a third baby ‘for the country’ – like it was the ultimate in patriotism.
Michelle Grattan wrote back in 2006, in The Age:
“I encourage people who can, if you have the opportunity, if you’re young enough, to have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country,” Mr Costello said yesterday, invoking the formula he first used after the 2004 budget.
Mr Costello said he wanted people to think of a three-child family as normal — certainly not a large family. The extended payment was “an additional benefit for families with three children” and might encourage other families to have an extra child.”
Right. Now we’re all confused. How many babies should we be having? Two? Three? Roll a dice and whatever number shows up?
The real question now is, were the comments a bit daft or do you think Dick Smith is on to something here? What about our population in general? Does size REALLY matter?
Top Comments
Dick is right. 2 kids are enough in this day and age. We are importing/accepting far too many others and those of us that are Auzzie born and bred come into mainly two categories. 1. Those that try to lead a decent, productive, contributory life and 2. Those that breed indescriminately - some whites, mostly blacks - that have never held a job in their lives, nor ever will. Likewise their offspring that they start pumping out from around age 12!
The 'Baby Bonus' and the hundreds of dollars paid out by CentreLink for each kid, each week - as well as all the other tax-payer funded forms of assistance - have done nothing but breed an enormous generation, with many more to come, of those that want the handouts and do not, will not ever, contribute back to the countries financial coffers!
It should be compulsory in many directions - these just a few. 1. You have or father a child out of a responsible relationship more than once, you do not get any CentreLink support for children after the first one. 2. If you concieve under official adult age, you must terminate, adopt or otherwise, the child as you will not recieve any Govt. benefits. 3. If you have more than 2 illegitimate children by different fathers, the female should get de-sexed. Same goes for males who father multiple children - they also get de-sexed!
4. People who have children from the above categories and who want to have more, must prove - for both parents - that they are in steady and reliable work and can support existing and any additional children on their own with no Govt or any other type of outside support. 5. Paid Maternal/Paternal Leave on full or even part-pay should be abolished. If you want to start or increase your family, do so on your own financial basis.....not mine, the taxpayer!
So many more issues I can think of, but the reality is that those who can least (if at all) afford to have even one child, are the ones that continue to pump them out and expect the working Australian to support them all! Look at the Thirld World countries...........cannot feed themselves, keep reproducing then expect the rest of the world to support them! I say, give them condoms and Depo Provera instead!
The original Planet of The Apes movies were not fiction. They are a PREDICTION.
China got it mostly right with their one child policy. With a couple of minor adjustments, we should adopt a similar!
I think people need to stop and consider what is happening in other countries. Many European countries will simply cease to exist because to the low birthrate. The average birthrate for 31 European countries is 1.38. Some such as spain have a birthrate of 1.2. How will they survive? Immigration. The average muslim family has a birthrate of 8.1. It's a no-brainer that the world will soon be dominant islam. As it already is in several European countries. Western civilization is dying from suicide. There need be no more 911. Just keep using your birth-control.