Numbers skyrocket

Population hits 25 million

AUSTRALIA’S population will officially hit the 25 million mark tonight — 33 years earlier than was predicted just two decades ago.

Mass migration and higher than anticipated birthrates have seen the population increase by a third in the last 20 years.

Melbourne is almost at five million, while an Australian Bureau of Statistics report in 1998 forecast that it wouldn’t get anywhere near that number until 2051.

Victoria had 82,105 births last year — about 6000 more than in 2012.

By far the biggest driver of population growth is net overseas migration, which is currently running at about 240,000 a year — much higher than predicted decades ago.

Big business groups like the Australian Industry Group welcome rapid population growth, saying that the high migrant intake must be main- tained to fill skill shortages and keep the economy strong.

But Australian Population Research Institute president Dr Bob Birrell said that a 25 million population was nothing to celebrate.

“Our latest survey of Australian voters found that 74 per cent thought the nation did not need more people,” he said.

“Most thought that population growth was worsening congestion, competition for education, health services and jobs,” he said.

Dr Birrell said that governments and urban planners were urging people to give up their suburban lifestyles and embrace higher density living.

“This is the price being asked for accommodating all those extra people every year,” he said.

Environmental group Sustainable Population Australia has taken aerial shots of Melbourne’s urban sprawl to highlight the population explosion.

“Our infrastructure is struggling to keep pace,” said the group’s Victorian president Michael Bayliss.