In May the Prime Minister appointed Australia’s first Minister for Population in the Treasury Portfolio. The new Minister’s first task will be to develop Australia’s first comprehensive Population Strategy to consider the social and economic infrastructure necessary to support a growing population, to consider the opportunities that a growing population will create for economic growth and the development of regional cities and communities, to consider the challenges associated with population growth, including the impacts on the environment, water and urban congestion and to bring a whole of government perspective to consideration of these issues.

In his May article Engineers Australia President Professor Doug Hargreaves announced that Engineers Australia would engage in this discussion saying, “We who will be responsible for conceiving, designing, implementing and operating much, if not all, of the required infrastructure to support the population of this country, are ideally placed to ensure that all of this happens in an appropriate and sustainable matter. This I believe is probably the most important issue facing this country in the longer term.”

Treasury’s Intergenerational Report 2010 projected that by 2050, the Australian population would be almost 35.9 million, an increase of 63% over the 2010 population of 22 million. Importantly, this change will be the result of a slow down in population growth over the next 40 years (1.2% per annum) compared to the last 40 years (1.4% per annum). But the location of this growth is likely to be very uneven.

Sydney and Melbourne are projected to be cities of 6.5 million or more. Brisbane is projected to be approaching Sydney’s present size and Perth will rapidly increase to over 3.15 million people. Adelaide is projected to experience modest growth but will likely to be about the present size of Perth. Hobart, Darwin and Canberra will grow more slowly than major capitals and will remain comparatively small cities.

The population outside of capital cities also is expected to increase by two-thirds the expansion in the capitals. Almost 60% of this expansion is projected to be in Queensland, with major implications for centres like Townsville, Cairns, Ipswich and Rockhampton. In contrast, outside of Hobart, the Tasmanian population is expected to increase by only 3.4%.

Population models focus on demographic assumptions and not the employment, housing, education, water, land and physical infrastructure necessary to sustain additional people. Many practical problems arise when these issues are considered.

The On-line survey is the way for members of Engineers Australia to express their views on these matters and to help shape how Engineers Australia responds to the Government’s Population Strategy.

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