Environmentalists argue for a lowering of immigration and population, saying the current 18.5 million population is ecologically unsustainable. But some prominent business leaders are calling for a major increase for economic reasons. People then talked of a future nation of 100 million people. Australia has no target population.
Immigration is determined on an annual basis, which both sides of the debate agree is ad hoc.
They also agree that there is a lack of political will to publicly tackle such issues, especially with the rise of the ultra-conservative One Nation. Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser wants a vigorous public debate. Asia's booming populations create a geopolitical reason to increase population to 45 or 50 million by 2050, Fraser believes. The Australian Bureau of Statistics on July 14 estimated the population could reach 26.4 million by 2051. Since its election in March 1996, Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government has reduced immigration to 80,000 in 1998-99, with net permanent migrants around 55,000.