Tony Burke is population minister, a vague portfolio which isn’t expected to produce any results until after the election but might help placate voters. Will it work? asks Paul Kelly.
Population
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The good things about increasing our population…
Crikey readers weigh in on the population debate and the SA election. Plus, a Qantas spokesman fights back over ‘cooking the books’ allegations.
Maths the first casualty in the population debate
The population debate will produce much heat but little light if it continues the way it started. The coalition may be unclear on population policy — just like Labor is — but they’re keen to connect it to refugees.
Stop migration and risk wage inflation and interest rate hikes
The temporary population of Australia cannot continue to increase by 130,000 per annum, yet the high demand for labour cannot simply be switched off, writes Peter McDonald.
The population debate goes boom
Daily media wrap: The already fiery population debate is set to turn into a raging inferno this week, with Labor appointing a new Population Minister and Tony Abbott asking the pertinent Easter question: what would Jesus do?
Rudd’s population populism
Tony Burke’s appointment as Population Minister suggests the Government continues to feel it has to demonstrate that it has Australia’s borders under control, writes Bernard Keane.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Environmental impact? Don’t forget food
Crikey readers write to us about population growth and our Spinning the Media series. And our own letter writers tell you how to write a letter to the editor.
Joye: We will have 40 million people by 2050
Does the government’s latest population projection of 36 million residents by 2050 significantly underestimate the likely rate of growth, just like they have in the past? asks Christopher Joye.
Economist: Is Australia getting too crowded?
Australia’s predicted “population explosion” is a worry for both the economy and the environment, says the Economist. Can there be too many Australians?
Population goes boom then bust?
35 million people has been the standard Australian government population projection for 2050. But where does this figure come from and should we really rely so heavily on immigration to boost our numbers? asks Bob Birrell.
Crikey Says: Don’t mention the “r” word
There are signs that the largely undiscussed pact between Australia’s major political parties not to exploit issues of race, immigration and population may be breaking down.
Kevin Andrews: How many more people does Australia need?
Liberal MP and former Minister for Immigration, Kevin Andrews, writes about the need for clear population policy in Australia, in light of our inadequate water supply, congested roads and overcrowded public transport.
graph pr0n 
A quarter of the world is Muslim
Almost a quarter of the world’s population is Muslim, according to a new study. Livemint maps the world’s Muslim population, and the results may surprise some people: the majority of Islamic practitioners live in Asia, not the Middle East.
Sheehan: Rudd’s population boom and climate change bust
PM Kevin Rudd is telling us a fairytale on population growth and it makes his climate change, green power rhetoric a giant contradiction, writes Paul Sheehan.
The new Aussie baby boom
Australia’s population is exploding with a projected growth rate of a whopping 65% by 2049. Jessica Irvine explores what this means to future generations.
Putting the pop into population: Swan’s on the job
Australia keeps getting the sort of problems that other countries would pay good money to enjoy. Like, a far more rapidly growing population than previous Treasury estimates!
Population boom without economic collapse?
Economists may hate predictions of catastrophe, but the effect of population growth on economies should not be underplayed. “Demographics will be THE major driver of the global economy in the next 40 years”, writes Mark Crosby.
Indigenous population set to soar
The ABS is predicting a surging growth rate for Australia’s Indigenous population over the next 10 years, with as many as 721,100 people by 2021.
State of the planet
Australia is not a climate change leader … Kenya’s new monkey population puts climate change in perspective … The icy road to Bali … US takes first step towards climate change law … One in three freshwater fish under threat
Populism – but who’s listening?
Prime Ministerial populism doesn’t seem to be striking a chord even amongst his own party.
