Australian Institute of Urban Studies Seminar

The implications for Sydney of Australia’s predicted population growth

The debate about Australia’s population and environment, which was “a press staple over the 1920s”, has not been waged so vehemently since. When Griffith Taylor, Australia’s first geographer, publicly raised the climatic and wider environmental constraints on Australia’s capacity to support a much larger population, he was effectively hounded out of the country. At that time, it was officially stated that while migrants were sought, “particularly citizens of the United Kingdom”, there was no immediate intention to increase the population to 100 million; though in the early 1950s the visiting Spanish thinker Salvador de Madariaga speculated about our capacity to support such a figure. So, current predictions of 22 million Australians becoming 35 million by 2050 and Sydney growing from 4 to 7 million seem rather mild to have sparked such concern. Our speakers bring varied perspectives to this subject.

Speakers

Ian Burnley, Emeritus Prof of Geography, UNSW

Hon. Bob Carr, former Premier of NSW

Cathryn Hlavka and Anne Warr
 

Cost

Members $25

Non-members $50

Concession (Student/Pensioner) $25

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