Aussie population 'to hit 35m by 2049'

Australia could have a population of 35 million people 40 years from now, federal Treasury projections show.

Fairfax newspapers said Treasury secretary Ken Henry, who revealed the projection on Thursday, questioned whether Australia's environment could accommodate an extra 13 million people by 2049, saying: "With a population of 22 million, we haven't managed to find accommodation with the environment," Dr Henry said in Brisbane.
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Rudd welcomes 'big Australia'
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he believes in a "big Australia" and that the population forecast is good news for the country, but he does concede that it poses complex challenges.

"That is why we're taking a leading position on climate change but also the long-term sustainability of the Murray-Darling and the proper provision of water supplies for the future.
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Population growth 'damaging'
AUSTRALIA will struggle to deal with the environment challenges thrown up by its growing population, the Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry believes.
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Institute One Child Policy for a "Sustainable" Australia : Population Control Group
CANBERRA, April 24, 2009 - A population control pressure group has issued a call for the Australian government to institute a one-child policy to ensure the continent's environmental and economic "sustainability." Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) said this week that Australia's 22 million people must be reduced to 7 million and that restricting each couple to one baby, as China does, is "one way of assisting to reduce the population" and avoiding "environmental suicide."
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Kelvin Thomson's speech to the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament on 17 August 2009 in the Grievance Debate and is titled 'Global Population', Kelvin is the Labor member for Wills in Victoria.