Population, sustainability and infrastructure - Panel discussion
On ABC Radio National Breakfast's Friday Panel of 23 July, presenter Fran Kelly and guest experts Professor Barbara Norman, Dr Marcus Spiller and Professor Peter Newman discussed population, sustainability and infrastructure.
"Since the moment she called the election last Saturday the Prime Minister has been talking up her notion of a sustainable population. Julia Gillard said she empathises with Australians who are concerned about overcrowding. In Western Sydney she spoke about the fact that you can never get a seat on the bus or a doctor's appointment at a moment's notice. But the PM has refused to talk about reducing immigration numbers, arguing the issue is not about immigration but a sustainable population. Something that is, however, not related to a 'big Australia' -- a concept the PM does not subscribe to. But whether you believe in a 'big Australia' or a 'sustainable population', and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive, there are real questions about how many people Australia can sustain, and what needs to be done to support population growth.
On the Friday panel this week we have three experts on sustainability and infrastructure."
Guests:
Professor Barbara Norman, From the school of urban and regional planning at the University of Canberra
Marcus Spiller, Planner and urban economist from SGS Economics and Planning
Peter Newman, Professor of sustainability at Curtin University. Newman is also on the board of Infrastructure Australia
Presenter Fran Kelly
hear the program on ABC Radio National Breakfast's website