Population increase - good or bad?
Immigrants to Australia and baby boomers are being blamed for a huge rise in the population estimates from 28.5 million in 2049 to an incredible 35 million.
Population critics are arguing that such a population explosion will have detrimental effects on Australia and will be hard to sustain financially. Professor Bob Birrell, from Monash University, criticised the government for not doing enough social planning to cope with the increase in population, saying: “The government doesn’t seem prepared to explore how we need to make social adjustments; rather, they are relying on the prop of bringing in more people of younger ages to essentially put all the older people to bed.�
However Kevin Rudd thinks that the increase signals exciting times for Australia. “I think it’s great that our population is growing, because so many countries around the world are shrinking, and that poses a real problem in terms of having a strong tax base for the future and a strong economy.�
The population levels seem to work for Australia as the country only accepts young, healthy immigrants to Australia who are going to make a positive contribution to the country’s economy. Obviously with young, healthy people you are also going to get more babies, who in turn will help keep Australia’s economy growing as they grow and enter the workplace.
This in turn, helps to provide for Australia’s ageing population. As without more taxpayers, then taxes would have to be raised to help pay for hospital care, pensions, doctor’s consultations and home care.
However the critics claim that such a population boost will also lead to drawbacks, with wildlife habitations under threat from increased urbanisation and the need for food production. Increased population also means an increase in carbon emissions. Labour MP Kelvin Thomson said that trying to cut carbon emissions whilst increasing population was like “trying to fight with both hands tied behind your back.�
Earlier this week the distinguished Australian author Tom Keneally defended the numbers of people immigrating to Australia, saying that the damage to the Australian environment had already been done and that immigrants added to the rich tapestry of Australian culture.
Figures for immigration to Australia are also down this year compared with last and the Australian Bureau of Statistics are recording a slow but steady decline in immigrants to Australia.
Love Australia? Let us keep you informed...
- Join the Embrace Australia community today. Have your questions answered by our experts, start your own blog, get vital migration information and gain valuable insight from those who have already made the journey.
- Subscribe to our RSS Feed and have all our daily news and features delivered straight to your news reader.
- Join our mailing list -
One Response to “Immigrants to Australia Blamed for Population Explosion”
Comment by mars — November 2, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
Australians are so racist. Other cultures are interesting and nicer. They should be honored to have other cultures with them otherwise it would’ve been a very boring country.