Stable Population Party 'green-washing' racism

The Stable Population Party (SPP) is using environmental and community groups to 'green wash' its anti-immigration message and split the Greens vote at the Federal election.

The SPP's technique of 'green washing' local community groups comes first hand from American organisations such as John Tanton and the Social Contract Press, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and especially Numbers USA. The SPP has direct and indirect links with the former and latter organisations.

Green washing is portraying oneself as pro-environment but camouflaging the anti-immigration motives. While the SPP's rhetoric sits to the left of the Greens, its policies would find a home with the British National Party.

The SPP want to create a one in/one out immigration system, stop building houses for first home buyers, stop the Kiwis arriving, reduce child support payments and especially parental leave, stop 457 visas and slash international student numbers. This is unusual, as Australia doesn't have a population problem. Africa does.

The anti-population literature from the 1960s and 70s is hauntingly familiar of the strident and divisive language used by the Australian anti-population umbrella organisation, Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). The SPA's sociobiological ideology turns political problems into biological problems and recasts human history as natural history. My recent New Matilda article gives some background on sociobiology.

The SPA and the SPP have been picking at the scab of immigration for some years. They cloak themselves in the garb of environmentalism (I call them 'Pauline Hanson in a koala suit) but unlike the Greens, they have no environmental credentials. They have links with some unsavory organisations in the States.

Here is Roy Beck from the anti-immigration group Numbers USA sunning himself on the Sunshine Coast before visiting Bindi and Teri Irwin on or about 17 January this year. Numbers USA is a powerful right wing, anti-immigration lobby group in Washington.

About six days later, Bindi was upset because Hilary Clinton's office made substantial edits to her anti-population essay, which she submitted as part of the US Secretary of State's conservation initiative. On 25 January, Bindi posted a Youtube video of her reading her essay. It's a highly crafted and nuanced piece of work, with an exceptional – almost adult - understanding of metaphor.

Meanwhile, Beck has flown down south to meet Stable Population Party boss, William Bourke, where he received an 'open invitation' to visit the Numbers USA Washington office.

Bourke said on the SSP Facebook page, "They (Numbers USA) don't tackle fertility, due to the right wing Christian influence over there but we have some common goals and there are some ways we may be able to work together post-election." Also present at the meeting were SPA committee members, Graham Wood and Nola Stewart. A nice picture of Beck and Bourke is in the SPA February 2013 newsletter.

Just five months later, here is Bindi advocating access to birth control for young girls in poor countries.

''There's such a thing as seven-year-implants, so if you had a girl that was 11 years old and gave her the seven-year implant she wouldn't be able to have kids until she was 18," said Bindi. Where did she get that from? Roy Beck and Numbers USA.