OPINION: Population, climate, and challenges for new government Opinion by News Of The Area - Modern Media - May 25, 2022 DEAR News Of The Area, WHEN the global population reached a staggering gour billion in 1974, many were concerned about pollution and the future of the planet. World leaders had a chance to address the unfolding overpopulation disaster via organised summits. But, instead of trying to work on ways to reduce population back down to, say, two billion by 2030 – and give the world a chance to breathe, those world leaders chose to do nothing. Now more than ever, in 2022, during the ‘big squeeze’ century – with a global population approaching double that ’74 figure, it’s incumbent upon every nation to work towards no growth, or preferably population decline. Every nation. That’s where our new federal legislators surely must get fair dinkum on issues such as Australia’s rapid rate of growth and human-induced climate change, rather than just talking about it. It’ll be a big test for this new mob walking the corridors of parliament in Canberra. Two things they need to address are net migration which is ridiculously imbalanced – with immigration far outweighing emigration; and those ultimately destructive incentives for people to have babies – like subsidised childcare, family tax benefits, and legalised IVF (or test-tube babies). It’ll be interesting to see what the next three years have in store, with federal policies directly affecting the people of our Cowper electorate (and beyond). Regards, Richie TASSICKER, Toormina.