fester,
Who actually wants to migrate to Japan? They have a population of 127,000,000 in an area less than half the size of NSW. A perfect example of a country where few would feel the need to migrate because it is already highly populated. People only want to move to countries where there is potential to be better off. Lifestyle included.

8% water use refers to all water extracted for use by domestic, industrial and irrigation users. 70% of water extracted is for agricultural irrigation so effectively domestic use is only around 2% of available resource. It's just not all available to the bigger cities. We'll have to build cities where the resources are.

This really is a stupid debate who knows what the future holds?
We globalise our economy, information, money, trade and heaps of other stuff,
yet close our doors to people, doesn't seem to make sense.
Maybe its not the rescoures we have but the way we waste them that we should be debating.
If sea levels rise a couple of metres through global warming, we might no have any choice about how many people we accept, as a major polluter we would be morally obliged to do so.
Alanpoi

Alanpol,
To me, it does not say much for your intellect if you think this subject is stupid.

However, you can start a discussion on any subject you consider of more value just by clicking the box at the top of the page.

“This is a really stupid debate…”

Alanpoi, what on earth do you think is stupid about this discussion? This an extraordinary comment.

I can’t imagine a more important discussion than this one. Working out what our national population should be is one of the core parameters of our economy, society and environment.

“Yet to close our doors to people doesn’t make sense”

Does an open-door policy with no limit on the rate of influx or on the total number of people make sense to you?

Besides, directing ourselves towards a stable population doesn’t have to mean closed borders. I would be happy with net zero immigration, which would still allow for an intake of about 30 000 per annum.

“Maybe it is not the resources but the way we waste them that we should be debating”

We need to debate all of this stuff together. We cannot consider population policy in isolation, just as we cannot consider technology / efficiency / rate-of-consumption arguments in isolation from concerns about an ever-increasing population.

Alanpoi wrote:

"This really is a stupid debate"

So what do you consider a reasonable immigration policy?

Are you arguing for open borders?

alanpoi, your flippant attitude is really quite disturbing, especially when our nation's long-term sustainability is on the line.

Go and spend a week in the slums of India if you want an example of the misery inflicted by unfettered population growth.