Editorial: Much to gain and little to fear from our growing population

Originally posted: February 20, 2016 12:00am – The Editor-  The Courier

GROWING pains may at times be uncomfortable, but they are a part of life and the passage to maturity. It is in that context that news this week that Australia’s population has hit 24 million, and that Queensland will reach five million this year, should be viewed.

By subjective Australian standards 24 million sounds like a lot of people, especially when they are mostly crammed into a few major cities around the coast of our largely dry, brown land. And from a Queensland perspective the five million population mark seems equally hard to believe. Are we not a land of rugged farmers and wide open spaces? What are all these people doing here?

What they are actually doing is underwriting the future of our country and our state, for without population growth our economy would struggle and the challenges associated with our already ageing demographic would be exacerbated.

Some perspective is required. Australia’s now 24 million residents are considerably less than those who count themselves as living in First World cities such as Tokyo or Seoul. And Queensland’s paltry five million people – spread across 1.7 million sq. km – is basically on par with the size that greater Sydney is expected to reach this year.

As The Courier-Mail reports today, this population growth brings with it not only opportunity but also challenges. As new satellite cities spring up around the state, existing centres expand and population density increases, so too will the pressure for more services and infrastructure.

This is actually a good thing, because every new resident is a net consumer of goods and services and adds to the wider state and national economy.

Population growth feeds the all-important demand side of the economy – which fuels investment in new housing, retail, transport, health and education services, creating jobs and adding economic growth in the process.

The challenge lies in planning for what can often be unpredictable patterns of population growth; thinking forward rather than scrambling to catch up when existing infrastructure becomes strained.

This is where we have so often failed in the past, whether it is been our electricity or water grids, transport infrastructure such as cross river rail, or even basic town planning blueprints that cater for structured, serviced and interconnected communities ahead of stand-alone development opportunity. This is where lip service is played to glossy brochures outlining future strategies – grand plans which are more pipe dreams than real, costed and deliverable outcomes.

Put the minutia of prosaic politics aside. Queensland has immense space and considerable wealth and endless opportunity. People want to come here.

Invest now and they will come, and they will add to the greater economy, and that investment will pay for itself over the long term. And we will all be the richer for their presence.