After last week launching his new website, Dick Smith Fair Go, with an e-book entitled: “The Aussie housing affordability crisis: an honest debate” (which I provided input into), Dick Smith will tomorrow begin a TV advertising campaign calling on Australia’s governments to reduce Australia’s immigration intake. From SBS:
Entrepreneur Dick Smith is launching a $1 million advertising blitz to convince Australians of the hazards of overpopulation…
The ads will start rolling out from tomorrow across TVs and will feature the voice artist behind the 1980s ‘Grim Reaper’ ads warning Australians about AIDS.
“It’s a frightening ad that shows what’s going to happen if we have endless population growth – it’s going to destroy Australia as we know it today,” Mr Smith told ABC radio on Monday.
But the businessman said he was angry at having to spend so much on the anti-immigration ads, saying the money should be going to charities instead of wealthy TV station owners.
He argues politicians have failed to properly take into account the risks associated with immigration, warning Australia risked having a population of 100 million, with 30 million of them “incredibly poor”.
“Every single Australian family has a population plan – they don’t have 20 children, they have the number of children they can give a good life to,” he said.
“But our politicians have no equivalent for the country”…
Mr Smith has labelled migration policies as “a giant Ponzi scheme” but denies it’s racist.
“It’s nothing to do with racism,” he said.
“The arrivals that are coming in are basically wealthy. I’ve got friends that are coming in from South Africa, UK, from China; they’ve come in with a lot of money.
“They buy a house instantly…
Meanwhile, The Telegraph reports that Dick Smith will “put $2 million into marginal seats supporting the party that has a population plan”, which hopefully means Sustainable Australia will receive a slice.
Dick Smith is also opposes cutting the company tax rate, instead calling for it to be lifted:
“Australia’s wealthiest 1 per cent own more than the bottom 70 per cent, that’s 17 million Aussies. I am a member of that 1 per cent club and we can certainly afford to pay more tax,” he said.
But instead of increasing tax on billionaires, Mr Smith said they were getting another tax cut.
He called for taxes for the very rich to be bumped up to the 45 cents in the dollar levels of the 1970s, which was the going rate when he made his fortune.
Great stuff. Let’s hope his campaign resonates with voters and forces our politicians to address the population elephant.
