Ann: Quarterly Report, page-3

Melbourne is certainly growing

Editorial: Population debate needed as Melbourne continues to grow
Herald Sun
July 30, 2017 8:00pm
Subscriber only
AS Melbourne hurtles toward becoming the most populated city in Australia, we need to make the bold decisions that have been ignored in the past.
Research is already showing that a population of eight million by 2051 would be unsustainable unless we reset our thinking.
A city the size of Brisbane will be piled on top of Melbourne in the next two decades.
Such a people crush — particularly if the infrastructure spend by state and federal governments remains behind the curve and fails to keep pace — would severely damage Victoria’s coveted livability.
The amenity, lifestyle and opportunities which have made Melbourne a world-best city, and Victoria such an attractive proposition for overseas migrants and interstaters, are also what threatens to undermine us.
Successive governments across the tiers have failed to properly plan for Melbourne’s population boom.
While the floodgates have been swung open, infrastructure in our transport, health and education sectors have lagged behind.
The result: Melbourne is now playing catch-up with a rush to build Melbourne Metro, roll out major arterial upgrades and level crossing removals. All of which continues to make the East West Link project cull by Premier Daniel Andrews unforgivable.
But transport rejuvenation is only part of any response.
The red-hot cost of housing in Melbourne is a result of runaway population growth and finite stock.

Melbourne is on track to be Australia’s most populated city. Picture: Mark Stewart
Supply and demand must be addressed with long-term residential planning and development in outer and regional areas supported by education, transport links and employment opportunities. In 2016, Victoria again had Australia’s biggest population growth, adding 127,500 people in the year to September 30 to reach 6.1 million, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Victoria ballooned on the back of a 13 per cent rise in net overseas migration to 65,000 for the 12 months, while it had a net gain of 17,200 people moving in from other states.
While 90 per cent of migrants and interstaters are settling in greater Melbourne each year, the remainder of Victoria continues to be largely overlooked.
Regional Victoria must be prioritised for continuing migrant intakes. With immigration a federal government ambit, we have seen the state government largely duckshove the issue.
Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has called for real debate on population and raises the need for “decentralisation”.
While Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula are growing, further development is possible in the region and to Victoria’s under-developed north and east.
Gippsland centres and the Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton arcs north of Melbourne can be better managed and highlighted as areas for growth. Of course, simply sending population overflow to regional Victoria is not going to work unless proper planning and investment partners that movement. Transport and employment is crucial.
The Opposition’s Victorian Population Policy Taskforce is a step toward lateral thinking on population pressure and what type of state we want Victoria to be for future generations.
We cannot repeat past failures to plan and invest. Now is the time for real debate on population growth.