13 October 2010
The new Federal Minister for the Environment, Population and Communities, Tony Burke has spoken out on his new expanded portfolio responsibilities. He told Sky News on Sunday that Australia’s issue is not overall population growth, but “the spread of population”.
“If large numbers of people settle in parts of Australia where it’s not economic productive that’s not necessarily really smart for the nation,” Mr Burke said.
“The most important issue remains ensuring that our infrastructure keeps pace with the developments that we have.
“The idea of thinking that it’s somehow good for the economy to continue to engage in endless urban sprawl – I don’t think that’s sound.
“In the past whenever people have talked about decentralisation, it’s been government intervention that has delivered it.
“This time it’s actually being driven by the market.
“The mining boom – with movement of retirees and the opportunities that will come with the national broadband network – means that we will now have market drivers where previously we hadn’t.”
The Urban Taskforce’s response to Mr Burke’s comments is available here.
The Federal Government is expected to release a discussion paper on population policy before the end of the year.
