Melbourne’s population was about 3.5 million people at the turn of the century. It took 165 years for Melbourne to grow to this size in the year 2000.
Fast forward to 2025, and Melbourne’s population is nearing 5.5 million. That’s almost a 2 million population increase in less than a quarter of a century.
Liveability in Melbourne has unambiguously worsened. Roads and public transport are clogged. Housing is smaller, poorer quality, and pricier. Public services, including hospitals and schools, are crush-loaded. And green space has been chewed up to make way for higher density.
The Victorian government continually touts that Melbourne’s population will balloon to 9 million people – the size of London – by 2050. If that happens, Melbourne’s population will grow by another 3.5 million people in only 25 years.
Think about this equation for a moment. It took 165 years for Melbourne to grow to 3.5 million people in 2000. Yet, Melbourne is projected to grow by the same amount in the next 25 years, which comes on top of the circa 2 million growth experienced already this century, which has crush-loaded everything.
Or to put it another way, Melbourne’s population is projected to increase by 5.5 million people in the 50 years between 2000 and 2025, from 3.5 million to 9.0 million.
Who genuinely thinks such population growth is a good idea? And will it improve living standards? The answer is clearly “no”.
Rohan Smith at News.com.au interviewed me on this issue, seeking my views on Melbourne’s transformation into a high-rise city.
“It’s disgusting”, I said to Smith. “Melbourne is already the most unsustainable city in Australia. If you’re going to stuff 3.5 million more people in over 25 years, you’re going to need to bulldoze people’s homes into highrise and get rid of the democratic process”.
“If you stuff thousands more people into existing suburbs, you can’t recreate the green space and parks. You consolidate a groups of blocks with backyards into highrise. It means more traffic, more cars, more overcrowding everywhere. You’re going to end up creating a slum”.
“Get used to it. There is no other future”, I said.
The scale of the transformation required to house another 3.5 million people in such a short period of time is staggering. Consider the following arithmetic.
Imagine if only one million of the extra 3.5 million lived in high-density apartments.
Let’s say 25 storeys each, with 275 apartments in each tower.
That equates to at least 3,600 more 25-storey towers across Melbourne.
Sure, many of these apartments will have more than one person living in them, which is why I deliberately chose only one million extra apartments.
Regardless, the point is clear. Melbourne would be transformed into a high-rise megacity.
The situation is similar in Sydney, whose population is projected to exceed 8 million people by the 2060s.
Modelling conducted pre-pandemic by the Urban Taskforce projected that Sydney’s dwelling composition would transform from having a majority of detached housing to having a majority of apartments by 2057:
These apartments won’t be affordable, either, given it costs more to build an apartment than a detached house or townhouse.
Is high-density shoebox living what Australians want? Or is it being foisted upon us by greedy politicians and their ‘growth lobby’ donors?
It is time to fight back against the deliberate destruction of Australia.
