Proactive population growth for Australia
Dr Jana Matthews | 6 minute read | Proactive population growth for Australia.
Australia is experiencing a population boom – with 400,000 migrants expected in 2023, and the government proposing even more entry-paths for qualified migrants. Some people are concerned about the negative impact of population growth on Australia. So, let’s look at what would be required for rapid population growth to achieve positive outcomes for Australia.
According to ABS modelling, our population will reach 30 million by 2029, and Treasury forecasts a leap to 62 million by the end of this century. This number could increase, due to climate change, wars, and other externalities. There are precedents for rapid population growth. The United States, for example, grew from 23 million to 150 million people between 1850 and 1950. The land mass of the “lower 48” US is about the same as Australia’s, so it’s possible for a country the size of ours to accommodate rapid population growth and become a stronger economy. The trick is to understand what’s required to grow into the country you need to become vs. what you are, now. Here are four recommendations:
1. Proactively recruit more people who can help build the Australia of the future
One way we could proactively recruit more talent is to lobby global companies to relocate their best and brightest employees to Australia – a clean, green, kind, respectful, stable, and safe country.
Those global arrivals could bring fresh knowledge and experiences to Australia and add to our great skills base in the country. Having left their homeland for a better life elsewhere, immigrants, by definition, are risk takers. Their mantra tends to be “find a way or make one”. Over time, some will start companies – and that will contribute to an even more vibrant SME economy resulting in more jobs, wealth, and prosperity for Australia.
Likewise, we should tap into our large cohort of international university students. In addition to encouraging current international students to stay, we could actively recruit those who have already graduated and returned to their home countries. These gradates know us, we know them, and they could immediately contribute to the economy.
We should also reach out and encourage Australians who have moved away, especially those living in “tech regions”, to come back, live, and work in Australia.
2. Create more places for people to live
Currently 86% of Australia’s population live in urban areas, along the coast. We are already experiencing a housing crisis in many of our capital cities, but there are many regional towns that could grow, and large tracts of land in regional Australia which could accommodate more population and even new cities. Many of the immigrants we would be recruiting– whether professionals, tech nomads, or business owners – would be happy to locate in regional areas. Over time, we will need to turn our arid and uninhabitable desert into regions capable of supporting population growth. The good news is that we know how to do that – we just need the will and the funding to do so.
Focus on innovation to prepare for population growth
Australia has a strong set of innovative companies in agtech focused on more efficient and effective use of agricultural land and revitalisation of arid land. Companies such as Succession Ecology, Kelly Tillage, and Seed Terminator, to name a few, are enabling us to protect and even naturally revitalise the soil. But to achieve this longer-term goal of reclaiming land and enabling it to support new communities, government, industries, and universities need to collaborate on setting the policy framework and fostering the growth of more innovation within the agtech sector. The Australian government has been highly successful in shaping and supporting the startup eco-system, as well as specific areas such as fintech. Investments in agtech and constructech will enable the restoration of land that was once arid, and the development of communities in regions – and that could yield high returns for everyone involved.
Reviving the land and preparing regional areas for growth will be critical to accommodating a major population influx. The Australian Government has noted that current population growth is already “spilling over” into the areas around the major cities, so it is developing policies and infrastructure to connect regional centres, e.g., faster transport links. But housing, schools, water, energy, roads, and other infrastructure requirements will also need to be developed if we are to enable people to work and live in regional areas of our country.
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3. Immediately start using resources more sustainably
Even if we don’t add a single person to our continent, we need to become more energy efficient and conserve – even reduce – our demand for energy and water. An increase in population will require an exponential investment in developing, generating, and conserving water, energy, and the development of more renewable energy from solar, wind, and green hydrogen.
Homes will need to be more energy efficient and use materials designed to insulate. And we need to change our behaviour; rather than turning up the heat in winter, we need to put on a sweater and sleep under a duvet. According to Roy Morgan research in 2022, 32.3% of Australian households have transitioned to solar, but with a population growth, we would need to harness more renewable energy through solar panels, solar water heaters, and contemporary aluminium facades and cladding and use recycled materials whenever possible.
Water will also be a critical resource. Providing more water to a growing population will require investment in desalination, new water catchment and flood abatement strategies, and a massive program to educate everyone about how to conserve and recycle water. Dual-water systems should be standard in all new homes, with recycled, grey water and rainwater used for flushing lavatories and watering gardens.
4. Leverage technology for a better life
We need a technology infrastructure that enables people to work from home and communicate in real time with friends, family, customers, and business associates. But we also need a tech infrastructure strong enough and fast enough to support the roll out of new technologies – and industries – such as those associated with artificial intelligence (AI) and Quantum computing. Healthcare, for instance, is going through enormous transformation. AI is already being used in remote communities to guide health care workers and will soon be used in urban areas to provide faster diagnoses and eliminate some of the most common and costly errors of misdiagnosis.
Similarly, artificial intelligence is being incorporated in education, at all levels, to enable students to progress at their own pace – rather than lockstep in a classroom. Pilots and tram drivers have learned to fly and drive in a simulated environment. By combining gaming with learning, we can teach more critical skills and disseminate more information to more people, more quickly. Ultimately the goal is to enable people at any level, to learn how to think, communicate and apply what they are learning.
Purposeful population growth in Australia
No one knows whether or when we might experience a population surge, but some population growth is inevitable. Let’s:
- be proactive and recruit those who already know us and can bring their knowledge, skills, and connections with them to Australia.
- revegetate the vast open spaces of our continent and use agtech to be more efficient and effective in producing food for the world.
- develop our renewable resources for Australians – and then export the rest.
- leverage technology to enable all Australians to have a better life, no matter where we live in Australia.