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| Migration pushing Australia to 'third-world style population growth rate' | Migration pushing Australia to 'third-world style population growth rate' |
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| Australia’s “breakneck” population growth is flooding major cities and putting huge pressure on house prices, the country’s former foreign minister says. | Australia’s “breakneck” population growth is flooding major cities and putting huge pressure on house prices, the country’s former foreign minister says. |
| Australia’s population ticked over to 24 million overnight, on the back of record net overseas migration in the year to July 2015. | Australia’s population ticked over to 24 million overnight, on the back of record net overseas migration in the year to July 2015. |
| “We’ve got a third-world style population growth rate and I think the Australian people need to be alerted to this,” Bob Carr told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday. | “We’ve got a third-world style population growth rate and I think the Australian people need to be alerted to this,” Bob Carr told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday. |
| Related: Australian population to hit 24 million as migration from overseas drives growth | Related: Australian population to hit 24 million as migration from overseas drives growth |
| “There’s a case for pegging immigration back by easily a third, perhaps 50%. We are going for breakneck population growth and it’s all about supply and demand. | “There’s a case for pegging immigration back by easily a third, perhaps 50%. We are going for breakneck population growth and it’s all about supply and demand. |
| Carr, who was also premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, said Australia’s growth rate outstripped Indonesia’s and was the highest of any developed country. | Carr, who was also premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, said Australia’s growth rate outstripped Indonesia’s and was the highest of any developed country. |
| Carr said a “hugely over-ambitious” approach to migration devised by Canberra bureaucrats was putting astonishing pressure on the housing market and causing crippling congestion. | Carr said a “hugely over-ambitious” approach to migration devised by Canberra bureaucrats was putting astonishing pressure on the housing market and causing crippling congestion. |
| “No matter how much governments spend on infrastructure, at this level of population growth, it’s always never enough,” he said. | “No matter how much governments spend on infrastructure, at this level of population growth, it’s always never enough,” he said. |
| “It’s a nice idea to decentralise, but people come to the big cities. | “It’s a nice idea to decentralise, but people come to the big cities. |
| “All of Australia’s population growth will be settled in a narrow band along eastern Australia.” | “All of Australia’s population growth will be settled in a narrow band along eastern Australia.” |
| Carr said Australia’s population growth was bound to reach breaking point. | Carr said Australia’s population growth was bound to reach breaking point. |
| “There comes a point, given we’ve only got a narrow fertile coastal strip, when at 40 million, 50 million, 70 million by the end of the century, we’ve got to start thinking again,” he said. | “There comes a point, given we’ve only got a narrow fertile coastal strip, when at 40 million, 50 million, 70 million by the end of the century, we’ve got to start thinking again,” he said. |
| “This is not a model that continues indefinitely. | “This is not a model that continues indefinitely. |
| “I’d rather see us tapering off before we’re locked into irreversible degradation of what we’ve got on this continent.” | “I’d rather see us tapering off before we’re locked into irreversible degradation of what we’ve got on this continent.” |
| Carr said capping population remained “perfectly compatible” with running a high refugee intake. | Carr said capping population remained “perfectly compatible” with running a high refugee intake. |
| However, not everyone agrees with Carr’s assessment. Dr Helen Feist from the Australian Population and Migration Centre told the ABC high levels of immigration were leading to a more diverse and more dynamic Australia. | |
| “We’re going to see a group of fertile, young people interested in wanting to start new businesses and start families and perhaps live in different areas then the traditional Australia population. So that’s going to shake things up a bit,” she said. | |
| “With any change in society you might have a bit of an unsettling period, but I think that will settle down. And I think we will reap the benefits of that change. | |
| “Just like the Greek and the Italian migrants — look what that did for our rich cultural history.” | |
| And former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd is on the record as an advocate for a “big Australia” saying that higher population forecasts are good news for the country. | |
| “I actually believe in a big Australia I make no apology for that. I actually think it’s good news that our population is growing,” he said. | |
| “Contrast that with many countries in Europe when it’s actually heading in the other direction. I think it’s good for us, it’s good for national security in the long-term, it’s good in terms of what we can sustain as a nation.” | |
| • Australian Associated Press contributed to this report |