In a speech to the Australian Environment Foundation conference (held on 20 October in Canberra), the former immigration minister in the Howard government, Mr Andrews questioned the rationale behind bringing more people to Australia and has called for a debate on how many people the nation needs.

He told the conference that:

  1. There was no rationale for bringing more people to Australia;
  2. "Our roads are congested, our public transport overcrowded, our water supply inadequate and our amenity under threat"; and
  3. There is a shortage of housing and hospital beds

I am not sure all these problems are caused by Australia's migration program.

This speech was reported in the main stream media (see for example: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/6362877/govt-slams-andrews-immigration-stance).

The comments of the current minister (Senator Evans) brought a smile to my face:

"It is a bit rich of Kevin Andrews to be talking about immigration levels being too high when the Howard Government ramped up Australia's migration program, effectively doubling the numbers,"

Politics at work!