'A smaller population will find it easier to adapt to the coming crises of climate change and higher oil prices '

Yea I heard this in the 1970's at school. Still we have a much higher standard of living than then, petrol is still very affordable and the ice age predicted failed to occur. We are a land with plenty to share. Most Australians want immigration in an orderly fashion unlike the current situation set up by a very incompetent Government. A few more doctors and hospitals would be in order although I take it the Government has wasted to much on pink bats, failed green schemes and handouts to be able to afford them.

If we don't grow with peace loving people eventually Islam will rule here.

Good timing on this Jenny,
There is no doubt that Australia needs to develop a more resilient society. Comments like those from the anonymous Runner, represent a very small an ignorant minority. Most people understand that we live in a finite world and that we are rapidly consuming its non-renewable and slowly renewing resources. Runner is ignorant of the fact that there are now over 1 billion with not enough to eat. That was the total world population just 3 life spans ago!
Australian fertility rates have also moved upward in recent times in response to high levels of immigration from regions where larger families are the norm. It can take 2 generations before the incomers adjust to a lower fertility rate.
At the next federal election there will finally be a choice on the matter with the Australian Stable Population Party standing candidates for the Senate in each state. The newly released Greens Policy holds no hope of settings for a stable population. Its just business as usual, which means 3.2% pa growth here in Western Australia!

Peter,
You are right on mostly all counts.

3 life spans ago there was no arab uprising or outward swell by them into other nations.
In just my lifetime, the area in England where I was raised as a child is now a no-go zone for white skinned people. This has exploded in just 45 years.

With this example we can therefore assume it can happen here in the same time frame.

In those 45 years those people have yet to reduce their rate of child production, as 1: it is part of their present religious convictions to produce a minimum of 10 children and 2: it helps to swell their ranks.

20 and 30 year old muslim youths have been reported as plotting and carrying out terrorism acts in England [the country of their birth!] and training abroad with jihadists and al quaeda.

Maybe the Greens should pay a visit to England. Only then will they be able to have a clear picture of the effect Muslims can have on a society.

Yes, our resources are finite. The present population of Australia mainly live on only the fringe of a vast desert., and the plain truth is we can't support many more than we already have.

Who can explain why our leaders both here and in the rest of the world refuse to acknowledge the simple truth that the earth is already overcrowded and take action to at least halt the spiral.

I said before - a carrot and stick approach could be used. For families who limit their birth rate to 2 children per family, financial reward in the form of payment. However, this should also be accompanied by a stick - either penalise those who give birth to more children, or enforce sterilisation. There will always be those for whom the rule should be relaxed. Here I'm thinking of the families who have children with birth defects.

For those who lose a child through death, adoption could be offered. There are always enough innocent children without parents in orphanages who would be overjoyed to gain a family.

"In those 45 years those people have yet to reduce their rate of child production, as 1: it is part of their present religious convictions to produce a minimum of 10 children and 2: it helps to swell their ranks."

This is a classic example of ignorant bigotry outrunning any possible factual basis. Just two illustrations. A Pew Research study published in January 2011 showed that the TFR of Muslim women in the UK was 2.2 in 2010 and was projected to decrease to 2.0 by 2030.

Pakistani women immigrants had a TFR of 3.5; their daughters are already down to 2.5.

In Iran the TFR dropped from about 7.0 in 1980 to 1.7 this year.

There is no country in the world, irrespective of religion, that has an objective of a TFR of 10, much less that it has been achieved. There is a direct correlation between poverty and high birth rates. Those same poor countries also have very high death rates so the high birth rate did not translate to high population growth rates. As development occurred, and in particular education for women and access to safe contraception, the birth rate has dropped dramatically, irrespective of the religious basis of the population.

As I said in my first post, it would be a useful debate if one stuck to the facts. Unfortunately, as is all too often the case, such topics only provide an excuse for the ignorant and bigoted to creep out of the woodwork.

' Most people understand that we live in a finite world and that we are rapidly consuming its non-renewable and slowly renewing resources '

I take it Peter that you are ignorant of the rhetoric back in the 70's. Our living standards were suppose to decrease rapidly. With many more people already in Australia the life expectancy still continues to increase. Our kids also are far better off than what we were. Labelling me ignorant in order to endorse your dogmas really proves nothing.

James,

In Somalia the birth rate is upwards of 5.2 per woman.The country is 99% muslim
In Ethiopia it is more than 5.4 per woman country is approximately 45% muslim
In Afghanistan the birth rate is 5.64
In Senegal 4.78
These are just a few more statistics to add to your list

Aspirations of 10 or more children do not necessarily translate into actuality, though in a very few cases it has done so.
There have been other studies done where some projections have been made ranging from 45% world muslim population by 2030 ranging again to 68% in 2050.

Many other factors contribute to this projection. Maybe the largest is that in Western countries the birthrate has dropped to below the level needed to sustain their present culture.
Regardless, two inescapable facts remain - our world as we know it is undergoing rapid change, and religion will remain a major player, as will the problem of population growth.