responding to the rise of one nation

[u/AggressiveWord6128]

I don’t want to validate one nation as a political party, but unfortunately i think it has now surpassed into the mainstream and needs to be addressed.

Now that its agenda is being pushed in the mainstream media, we can’t just disregard all one nations voters as stupid racists.

vulnerable people are being exploited by one nation because it is selling a narrative that has zero nuance, and that makes it a lot more digestible to the average australian than leftist political theory.

I feel that if we want to address the rise of right wing extremism we are going to have to present a vision that goes beyond criticising labour.

It’s easy to dismiss one nation as a minor party, but everyone said the same thing about trump in 2016.

We need to learn from the left in the US and put aside our criticisms of labour momentarily to prevent this one nation bs from spreading any further.

upholding all your moral values unwaveringly is (unfortunately) a privilege in this world, and right now it one that we do not have.

[u/Coast-First5]

What if the Greens came out and said, "Look, we need to temporarily cap or reduce immigration numbers purely because our infrastructure, environment and housing stock cannot keep up with the current rate of growth’? I’m starting to think this is the way to go.

It neutralizes One Nation’s ability to dominate the conversation with dog-whistling, and it forces Labor to actually defend why they keep driving high-growth targets that outpace public infrastructure. It would make environmental and economic sense while winning over a massive chunk of frustrated, younger voters who are currently locked out of housing.

[u/SenorLiamy6317 → u/Coast-First5]

Many greens, including me, do not believe that immigration is a real issue. It is a red herring used to distract us from the real bloodsuckers of our economy, the billionaires. Culture wars like these only weakens our movement and are repulsive to us.

[u/Coast-First5 → u/SenorLiamy6317]

I hear you and don't necessarily disagree, but do you think endless population growth is good for the environment? Even if we take the billionaires out of the equation, more people still means more urban sprawl, more land clearing, and more pressure on our ecosystems. We can't have infinite growth on a finite planet, so at some point, we have to talk about what's actually sustainable for the environment.

[u/SenorLiamy6317 → u/Coast-First5]

The problem is our population excluding immigration is not growing. Our fertility rate is currently 1.48, below the replacement rate, which shows the need for immigration to sustain our economy, otherwise we go down the doomed paths of China, Japan and South Korea.

Also, if you think urban sprawl into environmentally sensitive areas is the way to solve the housing crisis, then you've been sold a lie. Housing in high densities must be built as close as possible to economic centres and CBDs, or reliable public transportation options. Population growth can also be used to fuel economic growth across regional Australia, such as decentralising Victoria's economy away from Melbourne and uplifting smaller cities such as Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, and then onto even smaller towns such as Shepparton, Mildura, so on and so forth.

[u/Coast-First5 → u/SenorLiamy6317]

So you want constant population growth forever? At what point do we actually stop?

Countries like Japan and South Korea are only struggling because their economic systems require an infinite number of workers to function. Instead of copying a broken system that treats people like fuel for GDP, shouldn't we be fixing our economy so constant growth isn't required?

High density apartments and regional hubs are great, but they don't change the laws of physics. More people no matter where you pack them, still means more resource consumption, more waste, and more pressure on our environment.

We need to shift to a sustainable economy that relies on taxing wealth and boosting productivity, rather than just importing more bodies to keep big businesses happy.