what is Australia's ideal population?

[JW Frogen]

Half the population + one.

Me and every Australian female.

For the first time in their lives they will understand what sex can be, and a race of overmen will be born in the orgy of Frogen-ation

 

[JW Frogen]

Oh, we can leave one other man, Andrew Denton, to interview me after I re-seed the seedy island of Doctor morose.

 

[evo]

For someone who 'knows' God you seem pretty shallow Froggy.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

On a peace mission with my left leaning friends on this board ,so I thought I would bump my first thread on this board which is not a right vs left wing thing .

What do people think in 2017 we should aim to do with our population ? do we want a big Australia or smaller Australia ?

 

[Brunswick Trap King]

I guess it depends on if we have governments with the foresight to ensure infrastructure meets the additional population size.

 

[RupieDupie]

what is Australia's ideal population? some say that we should aim for a population of 50 million and others say that we are already overpopulated and should decrease our population.

I think from a security point of view we should be looking to boost our numbers up to around 50 million but than how much problems would we have with our water levels , we cant manage ATM?

I think we should listen to the leaders of the over-population proponents have to say and use them as our model. Personally I look to Al Gore when I need some guidance as to 1) how many children I should have and 2) how big my carbon footprint should be. Therefore I am looking at 4 children and a carbon footprint the same size as Trinidad and Tobago.

 

[Admiral Byng]

It is not about the raw numbers, it is about how we concentrate ourselves into only a handful of large cities. Sydney is too big and choking on itself. We can't let the population get to say 40 or 50 millions people and just expect that half of them will live in Sydney. We need to start building and planning new cities with a compact footprint for a set number occupants. We need to have the balls to set limits on the further expansion of our existing cities and call it once they are "full". Once they are full it is infill only or higher density. New land developments to be done in the new cities only, once they are full. Then we move on the next new city.

I'm thinking somewhere between half and one million would make the ideal size city. It could be contained to a footprint of around 20-30 km diameter, which would not take up that much land and we can reserve other good farming land as not for development. Planning for triple transport routes for rail, roads and bicycle/walkways all integrated into the heart of the design, with green corridors and public open space to carry the bicycle/walkway paths. The city to be laid out so you can get anywhere by rail, car or bike with equal ease.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

I guess it depends on if we have governments with the foresight to ensure infrastructure meets the additional population size.

True but you could only increase population by so much before it is impossible for government to keep up with rising infrastructure demands.

 

[Admiral Byng]

heh - didn't notice the epic bump, thought it was a brand new thread. Nevermind, carry on.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

heh - didn't notice the epic bump, thought it was a brand new thread. Nevermind, carry on.

Guys cut me some slack I felt guilty about upsetting some left leaning posters so I wanted to make a thread that wasn't a left vs right topic and this is what I had in mind , turned out I made one 9 years ago so made sense to bump .

Basically Dick Smiths recent campaign has made me think about the topic of population size .

I personally believe it hurts the bottom end of town and helps the top. Over supply of labour and a greater demand for goods and services .

 

[Admiral Byng]

Guys cut me some slack I felt guilty about upsetting some left leaning posters so I wanted to make a thread that wasn't a left vs right topic and this is what I had in mind , turned out I made one 9 years ago so made sense to bump .

Basically Dick Smiths recent campaign has made me think about the topic of population size .

I personally believe it hurts the bottom end of town and helps the top. Over supply of labour and a greater demand for goods and services .

It OK. Probably a subject worth revisiting.

 

[King Brown]

Depends. Our two major cities are poorly planned and expensive but we have a lot of beautiful land along the coasts between Melbourne and Brisbane that is effectively depopulated. You could fit more people in along that narrow strip, and it would be fine.

I imagine that contiguous bit of coastline and hinterland is larger than the whole of the UK but has a quarter of the population.

 

[Fire]

100-200 million. Assuming planning could be put in place to build infrastructure needed to open up the outback, and that no city grows bigger than ~10 million.

There's a lot to be said about having a country of that size with a first world economy. It provides more specialisations and career opportunities.

 

[Fire]

I imagine that contiguous bit of coastline and hinterland is larger than the whole of the UK but has a quarter of the population.

Unless this underpopulated strip you're talking about has almost all of Australia's population living in it, then you're underestimating how many people manage to fit in the UK.

 

[strung_out7]

How ever many people are apparent 'refugees'. There should be no walls, no borders, love is love etc. Therefore I see no reason we can't thrive under a population of 1 billion or more.

 

[Run n Spread]

Can't just look at size. Look at access to food and agriculture, water, ability to manufacture and be self sustaining, natural resources we can exploit, how our cities are planned and developed, transport networks, landscape and connectivity between cities. That is how a city like Hong Kong fits 8 million with their organistaion.

Australia =About 20 million. But even then (and 20 mill is long gone) we are way overpopulated in Melbourne and Sydney to the extent viable rural areas have nearly died due to the over emphasis on cities.

Our current immigration levels and growth is self destroying. Crazy.

We need to cap now especially with a drought on the way.

 

[King Brown]

Unless this underpopulated strip you're talking about has almost all of Australia's population living in it, then you're underestimating how many people manage to fit in the UK.

Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne alone would have 12 million people in it. Another 2 million in the various towns between them. That’s around a quarter of the UK’s population

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Can't just look at size. Look at access to food and agriculture, water, ability to manufacture and be self sustaining, natural resources we can exploit, how our cities are planned and developed, transport networks, landscape and connectivity between cities. That is how a city like Hong Kong fits 8 million with their organistaion.

Australia =About 20 million. But even then (and 20 mill is long gone) we are way overpopulated in Melbourne and Sydney to the extent viable rural areas have nearly died due to the over emphasis on cities.

Our current immigration levels and growth is self destroying. Crazy.

We need to cap now especially with a drought on the way.

If we were hypothetically to increase our population by an increased fertility rate is that a better way than via immigration ?

 

[Run n Spread]

If we were hypothetically to increase our population by an increased fertility rate is that a better way than via immigration ?

Yes. As it would be more gradual. Not a new Geelong every year.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Yes. As it would be more gradual. Not a new Geelong every year.

Agree , but for some reason we cant seem to increase our population that way .

 

[Fat Yak]

For those who are advocating big Australia, just remember where most the growth will be, it wont be some where out in the desert or some romantic little country side, it will be mostly in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Just imagine what Melbourne would be like with 15,000,000 people. Be careful of what you wish for.

 

[Bradesmaen]

On a peace mission with my left leaning friends on this board ,so I thought I would bump my first thread on this board which is not a right vs left wing thing .

What do people think in 2017 we should aim to do with our population ? do we want a big Australia or smaller Australia ?

Our current population minus you. Boom.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Our current population minus you. Boom.

Nah that would be cruel to all the woman who believe I am the man of their dreams .

 

[Bradesmaen]

Nah that would be cruel to all the woman who believe I am the man of their dreams .

So.. no one?

 

[Power Raid]

Personally I think Australia can hold 200m easily with the technologies available today and even more so in the future. The real debate is what are ideal populations for cities. For me, 1.5m should be our largest cities and most should be 100,000 or less.