22 September 2010

Vast and dry ...


Day 22 - Watched an interesting documentary produced by Dick Smith (one of our great Australian identities) on the current topical issue of population in this country.  There is much debate of late over the level of migrant intake and whether we, as a nation, can sustain a growing population in the future.  I think one of the misnomers about Australia is that because we are seen to be such a large country with a relatively low population, we are automatically thought of as being under populated and have the capacity to take in more people.  Unfortunately while we are vast, much of Australia is desert and water availability is a constant worry.  Indeed some 75% of our population lives a cosmopolitan lifestyle within 200km of the coast around the edges of the country.  In fact only 6% of the country is suitable for food production.


No comments: