It is only the fools and the ignorant who see any merit in increasing population. In another 50 years time when the world starts to run out of physical resources and we lose the ability to feed the ever growing numbers, that they may begin to see the error of their ways.

David

Unfortunately VK3AUU, they won't realise their mistakes at all because most of the people with a growist mindset will have already be dead.

I shudder to think of just how many people of religious persuasion there are that believe some god or other 'gave' them this world to do as they please, like some huge kiddies playground. Those same people also believe that it's their "god-given right" to breed out of control. Who knows what reason they have for this. Is it simply to out-breed the other religions?

It's a similar mindset that says we can keep on breeding forever and hang the consequences. If only I could get through to people that they've been brain washed. There really is no god and when they die, that's all there is. The lights go and and it's goodbye forever.

If we could convince religious people that what they believe is total and utter nonsense, then perhaps we could also convince them that this world has finite resources and the only way to help future generations is to stop breeding and work towards a more sustainable future.

But, I suppose I'm just 'spitting into the wind.' Those born a fool, always a fool!

Well done William. Big business wants high population growth, but for small businesses higher costs make things tougher. For wage earners it is even tougher still.

It is difficult to convince the general population because issues like biodiversity, protection of ecosystems and ecosystem services like flood control, breeding areas and pollination are complicated. Hopefully the idea that rent, power and water gets more expensive with high population, is easier to understand.

Aime - Lots of high profile religous leaders are for high population growth (like Cardinal George Pell who said that people wanting a stable population were "Nervous Nellies" because the world's population was ONLY going to increase by 3 billion by 2050) but there is a strong movement among many religous groups (like the Anglicans and many Catholics) that favour sustainability and stable population.

Yes,far too often opponents of our 'population policy' are characterised as 'dreamy greenies',when in fact there are sound economic arguments against high population growth,as William Bourke indicates,

runner,

you're making the assumption that our higher living standards are due to population increases, not necessarily. There are many nations with smaller populations than ours with higher per capita incomes,they probably have smarter politicians and capitalists.
Australia is basically a desert,it's not Brazil or the US.
We're incurring a huge foreign debt just to cope with an increased population which provides very doubtful 'benefits'.

I recommend the book 'Overloading Australia', its authors examine the political and economic vested interests behind our high population gowth rate.

Runner, you have been reading too much of the "Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die" self indulgent crap. By the time your boy gets to the "Age of Wisdom" he might have actually got a sense of propriety.

David

population increase has its pluses but these are out weighed by the negatives. The problems in the realestate game are caused by a cross section of issues. Certainly population growth puts pressure on demand and the inevitable shortage ensues. But high pressure sales methods and an escalating expectation of what we deserve also adds greatly to this problem. Then there is the slow progress within government with the release of land and ever increasing costs for builders with insurance and regulations.

The problem of what we expect from life and the standard of living we demand have much more to do with the pain we all feel financially. Everyone expects bigger profits and cheaper prices all of this is unsustainable but do we care NO! The long term future of our current economy is bleak as another GFC would cripple this country and be the absolute end of it for most of the developed world. We live way beyond our means and don't see the issues for our country and planet. I have always seen our constant growth as destructive and all back to front. We need to understand what the country can handle as a population and then plan our economy to suit.