Source: sustainabilitymatters.net.au --- Thursday, June 29, 2017
Australia’s annual population growth rate of 1.6% is alarmingly high, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). Figures released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the year ending December 2016 showed Australia’s population had increased by 372,800 to 24,385,600 people over the previous year. Net overseas migration (NOM) made up 209,000, or 56%, of the total growth, and natural increase the rest. SPA President Dr James Ward said our population growth rate is more than twice the OECD average — third only to Israel and Luxembourg — and is simply unsustainable. “Much of the growth occurs in our major cities and infrastructure is not keeping pace with a consequent loss of living standards,” Dr Ward said. “Traffic congestion is lowering productivity and causing social harm through longer commuting times. Owning your own home is out of reach for average young Australians. Cramming more people into cities can’t possibly help; most young people today can only hope the housing bubble will eventually burst, which is a pretty bleak outlook.” The environmental consequences are looking particularly bleak, Dr Ward said, noting that species like the koala are “threatened as prime habitats are decimated by urban expansion”. Importantly, he said, the growth of human populations means it is becoming “harder and harder to meet our international obligations with respect to greenhouse emissions”. “Despite our relat ...
from Australia http://ift.tt/2s7McXf
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