Population growth was barely an issue at the 2014 election. Now, it permeates almost every policy challenge
It is intriguing that the biggest issue at next month’s Victorian election is one that the state can do little about. Melbourne is staggering under unprecedented population growth, a boom rivalling the gold rush of the 1850s and the “populate or perish” era after the second world war.
Spring Street has scant influence on the net 2,400 people a week arriving in Melbourne or being born here – that’s 125,000 newcomers last year alone. Most of these people come from overseas as students or skilled migrants, and the state government has no control over those numbers. It can’t stop the more than 15,000 people who moved to Victoria from other states last year and it has limited say on how many babies we have.
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