Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) is today paying tribute to its Patron and former senator for South Australia, Dr John Coulter, who died yesterday in Adelaide aged 93 after a long illness.

SPA national president, Peter Strachan, says Dr Coulter was a great environmentalist who advocated for an ecologically sustainable population for over half a century.

“Dr Coulter believed that a sustainable population should be one which Australia can support without successive damage to the environment,” says Mr Strachan. “This was the central issue for him throughout his long public life.

“He not only founded the Adelaide branch of Zero Population Growth in 1971, he took on the presidency of Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Population (AESP) when he left the Senate. AESP later became Sustainable Population Australia.

“Dr Coulter was a man of great knowledge and wisdom. His great skill was integrating a number of disciplines – from economy to ecology to demography – into a coherent philosophy.

“He was greatly influenced by the American economist Herman Daly who introduced the concept of a ‘steady state economy’ in which the population size and physical wealth remain constant over time.”

Mr Strachan says that, in his eight years in the Australian Senate from 1987 to 1993, two as leader of the Australian Democrats, Dr Coulter introduced 12 Private Senator’s Bills, most addressing environmental issues. None passed the Senate but a number prompted the government to introduce similar legislation.

“He was a man ahead of his time,” says Mr Strachan. “In 1995 he proposed that the Keating government introduce a carbon tax, with the funds raised used to develop energy-efficient industries. This was 17 years before Prime Minister Julia Gillard introduced one.

“Dr Coulter, as Democrat spokesperson on the environment from 1990 to 1995, spoke out about the need to protect old growth forests and wilderness. He warned of fresh water pollution from industry, agriculture and urban wastes. He advocated for the endangered bilby to be a symbol of Easter, rather than environmentally destructive rabbit.

“SPA made Dr Coulter a Patron earlier this year because of his unparalleled contribution to the population debate in Australia. He was, until his death, a valued member of the national executive. Despite his recent illness, he remained of sound mind right to the end.

“His contribution to our organisation and to the cause has been invaluable.”

Further information: Peter Strachan president@population.org.au 0412 400 952