Population growth in Australia

University vice-chancellor Ian Chubb said the survey showed people were yet to be convinced of the need for population growth.

If 52% of Australians want population to stay at or below our current levels then I'd say the survey is about right. People resist change if it is too fast and we have had quite an influx of new arrivals and  even though we are a so called western civilisation and a modern one, we still tend to adopt a parochial stance to things like population growth. We are an island continent and we have been used to slow change and not a lot of influence from outside. Technology and travel has changed all of that so we have upped the pace but we still have an island approach. We can be a family across our massive continent. We can be a very close knit community. Some of the changes in terms of building, housing development, the knocking down of iconic buildings, the forever changing roads and road systems have put a strain on us. Then there has been the need to create better transport infrastructure, new schools,new shopping centres. We were running out of water and people kept coming in. Of course that worried us. We have had farms wiped out by bushfires and still people have come in and yes, that has worried us. It has nothing to do with us not liking people , but I should hate to have to suddenly accommodate 20 people in my current home.It would be a strain.It would create pressure and that is how it is with large intakes of new arrivals. No one would worry if we were growing by evolution but lots of sudden changes will not go down well and if people don't want the population to grow, all they are saying is they want to stand still so we can catch our breath.