Public inquiry on the need for a state population policy

• Peter McDonald
• Local Government Association of Queensland

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20 August 2010This public inquiry recommends that the Queensland Government develops a State population policy as a mechanism to explain its vision on the way in which Queensland will grow in an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable manner.

It makes 19 recommendations and states that:

The defacto Population Policy for Queensland has been to welcome population growth throughout the State, to support continuing population growth, and to make every endeavour to accommodate growth in regions, towns and cities, and the South East Qld metropolis, in manageable and acceptable ways.

There has been no explicit statement of Population Policy in these terms, as that has been regarded as unnecessary, given the strong emphasis on economic policy that was growth-oriented.

Authors: Professor Peter McDonald, Professor of Demography and Director of the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute at the Australian National University.
Professor Lyndsay Neilson, adjunct Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at the University of Canberra.
Dr Keith Hilless AM, Chairman ZeroGen