Language Case

The letter to a newspaper is an opinion piece by Joseph McDermott contending that the Minister of Immigrations outlined immigration policy is not suitable for Australia, and will lead to many problems which are encountered by overpopulated cities overseas. McDermott intends to convince readers to accept his point of view by displaying all the possible outcomes which could come as a result of increasing Australia's present population. The writer's piece is primarily targeted at the general Australian public to convince Australians that an increase in population growth will affect not only the people living in the country, but also the future generations who are growing up.

In the first paragraph of this opinion piece, McDermott opens with an appeal to the reader's standard of living. By appealing to the reader's standard of living the writer begins to develop a sense of concern in the readers mind. This concern of a damaged standard of living is then built upon by McDermott raising the issues which would come about by doubling the population, "double the garbage, the traffic, the pollution". In addition to this, the writer juxtaposes the feeling of space Australians currently experience to the "big polluted overcrowded cities" overseas which evokes an emotional response from readers as they begin to fear of what may come with this population increase.

Another argument brought forward by McDermott is the crime and social problems which are brought about by large populations. His statement "large cities bring chaos and anarchy...chronic unemployment, ghettos...and drug based crime" along with the rhetorical question "what will it be like with two or three times the present population?" evokes a sense of insecurity amongst readers as they develop a fear of what their country may become. He then goes on to raise the possibility of the destruction of resources which with the use of powerful language such as "destruction" and "blade runner territory" to convince readers that a population increase will have a negative impact on all environments in Australia.

The writer then comes to suggest that by increasing the population of Australia an underclass of people will be created. He incorporates an anecdote which acts as an indicator of what is happening at current but will become worse if the population is increased, "...you'll find eight sewing machines in the lounge room...old ladies and young girls working...little kids running around". The use of this anecdote benefits the writer greatly as it creates a sympathetic audience, but also a concerned audience which questions how many people will be placed in this situation if immigration is not correctly monitored and a poor class of people are generated.

Furthermore, McDermott raises the issue of business migration. He mounts an attack on the "Hong