Fed Square: Mark Allen and Mark O'Connor do Population at Sustainable Living Festival 2016

Since the Sydney Olympics in the year 2000 the population of Australia has grown by 25 per cent. In fact, since the Sydney Olympics, Australia’s population has grown more than the entire population of Sydney at that time. Based on current trends, the ABS projects that our population will grow to around 40 million in 2061 and depending on migration policies, will grow to between 42 million and 70 million by 2101. Like a parent boasting of the growth of the children, to strapping adulthood, there's an assumption that our "growth" is to be celebrated. It's as if we are coming of age, with each new million people. Australia has the fastest population growth in the OECD other than Israel and Luxembourg. However, our economy is struggling to grow, inhibited by the massive backlog of infrastructure needed. The world's population could hit 12 billion by the end of the century, a report by population experts has found. Sub-Saharan Africa countries already with big populations and high fertility levels are expected to drive population growth, including Nigeria, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique and Mali. Some experts worry about a planet growing more crowded and humankind exhausting natural resources, struggling to produce enough food or cope with poverty and infectious diseases. The sacred cow, of not addressing family planning and contraception, still can't be touched. According to the ABS, with zero net overseas migration, the population would start to decline in 2041 and the effect on Australia's age structure would be very evident. By 2063, the total population would have fallen back to 24 million people - 1 million less than in 2033. The proportion of people aged 65 years and over would increase to 29%, while the proportion of children would be 15%. Working-age people would make up 56% of the population, and there would be 79 'dependents' for every 100 'workers' - a ratio of 4:5. Around 1 in every 13 people (7%) would be aged 85 years or over. Of course we will face more ageing population, but that's the end result of any population boom! At the moment we have massive unemployed youth, and only a limited number of job vacancies. We should be more concerned about an population overshoot, and the over-supply of disaffected young people with no futures.