Maximum Australian Population
- Thread starter d32123
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PoeFacedKilla
Banned
never underestimate the future, Australia is not by any means a small place and with what the above stated (cheap desalination) and the right infrastructure I don't know why Australia couldn't end up with 50-60 million sometime in the future.
Not saying its going to, or that it could by now have such a population;
but future technology could give Australia everything it needs for a much higher population density.
Not saying its going to, or that it could by now have such a population;
but future technology could give Australia everything it needs for a much higher population density.
FDW
Banned
Yeah, I would say that the North of the country would be able to hold a whole lot more people than it currently does, though it might be tricky to do…
Desalination is fine for drinking water, where a penny a litre is essentially irrelevant. Its totally out of reach for agriculture, especially grain farming, because of the massive number of tonnes of water needed to produce a tonne of grain.
In an era of globalized trade, that's not really a problem. So long as there was a sufficient economic benefit in terms of resource extraction, manufacturing etc., Australia could support a very large population in the current epoch just by importing food. Vertical farming is another possibility, and it has the advantage of ensuring a near closed system when it comes to water irrigation.
I would suggest that in times of dryness (ie 1990's and ealy/mid 2000's) its supportable population is less than what it has now.
And in the wet times (2008 onwards or thereabouts) it's double what it's got right now.
Of course that would require that during the wet it is stored for the dry, which most certainly was not the case previously.
And in the wet times (2008 onwards or thereabouts) it's double what it's got right now.
Of course that would require that during the wet it is stored for the dry, which most certainly was not the case previously.
Australia currently has a population density of 43 people per arable kilometer^2. If we compare this to an other developed country with a dry climate, say Spain, it has a population density of 297 people per arable kilometer^2. So from roughly 20 million people at nearly 50 people per arable kilometer^2. At 6 times the population density, around 300 people per arable kilometer^2, gives us 120 million people.
I've always been disappointed that no one in history ever implemented a large series of nuclear desalination/power cogeneration plants. Only Kazakstan and Japan have used nuclear power to desalinate in an real way.
Anyway, my point is, cheap desalination is very, very possible.
Pangur
Donor
Desalination is a polical football in Aussie. In the midst of the drought we had a few plants built- costly enough mind you The rains came and then the plants were seen as white elephants. The fact that water is not negociable - you need it pure an simple has missed all to mnay people here
Riain
Banned
Even if we could get the water the soil is shit. Australia is a very old continent and geologically very stable so over the billions of years the nutrients have leeched away. When you start having to brinjg in both massive amounts of water and build up soil almost from scratch you're really up against it.
Apparently were export about 40% of our food production, so we could theoretically ststainably hold maybe 30 million at similar development levels as today. We could stack in more people if we went to the level of a 3rd world country, but fuck that!
Apparently were export about 40% of our food production, so we could theoretically ststainably hold maybe 30 million at similar development levels as today. We could stack in more people if we went to the level of a 3rd world country, but fuck that!
It should be mentioned that Australia also has a very large amount of uranium to use in nuclear power plants and a lot of (relatively) empty desert to bury the waste in. Unfortunately the Australian populous is currently rather opposed to nuclear power and as we also have a lot of coal there isn't really any reason to start building nuclear power plants. I'm interested in the possibility of solar powered desalination. We have a lot of empty desert in which to build solar power farms. Furthermore the main disadvantage of solar power, it doesn't work at night, doesn't work at night isn't that much of a problem as we could just desalinated water during the daytime.
Pangur
Donor
Aussie is frankly blessed - we have just so many options. Energy generation? what do you want/ Nuclear. ok that's an option, solar - that has got to be viable. Where it all goes wrong is the lack of a long term plan that all parties sign up for. We can not survive with the childish not my plan - I am going to kick your sand castle over mind set. Add to that is that total rubbish of it must make a profit in 3/5 years. We are in the nation building phase, adapting the mind set of Europe or the US is silly. For god sakes lets build our country - it's work in progress
I seem to remember a newspaper article mentioning a dept of agriculture, fisheries and forestry report suggesting Australia's max sustainable population being somewhere in the vicinity of 80 million, including both land and water( fishing presumably) resources. However I'm struggling to find either the daff report or the article online.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Australia's population could be a lot higher it just would need to move North and out of the South East corner.
a lot of North Queensland went through the last drought pretty easy compared to the southern regions.
Look at were I live Townsville we live in one of the driest parts of the East Coastyet went through the entire last drought without having to change our water restrictions from the level 1, one we have permanently (not from a lack of water but mainly for cheaper water rates), when in comparison Brisbane I think got to level 6.
The infrastructure in the North is utter shit which would need to be worked around. But really water isn't an issue, Australia has plenty of water for a larger population its just Australians prefer to live in areas that are reaching their limit population wise to provide water.
a lot of North Queensland went through the last drought pretty easy compared to the southern regions.
Look at were I live Townsville we live in one of the driest parts of the East Coastyet went through the entire last drought without having to change our water restrictions from the level 1, one we have permanently (not from a lack of water but mainly for cheaper water rates), when in comparison Brisbane I think got to level 6.
The infrastructure in the North is utter shit which would need to be worked around. But really water isn't an issue, Australia has plenty of water for a larger population its just Australians prefer to live in areas that are reaching their limit population wise to provide water.
Riain
Banned
My concern with a booming population is that it is rushed, we are bringing in people but not building infrastructure fast enough to cope with them. I see new housing estates springing up but they lack schools, shopping centres and transport infrastructure.
If you want a PoD for greater population I'd have the Dutch (Thiejssen and Tasman) map the South East in 1627 and 1642. That gives you another 130 years to establish a colony to build a big population from.
If you want a PoD for greater population I'd have the Dutch (Thiejssen and Tasman) map the South East in 1627 and 1642. That gives you another 130 years to establish a colony to build a big population from.
Rivers.
I looked at a physical map, and in southeast Australia, it looks like there are some rivers. Just use those for increased irrigation and I bet you could sustain a lot of people there, potentially, as long as the focus remains centered on subsistence.
The question is why people would move there just to grow food.
I looked at a physical map, and in southeast Australia, it looks like there are some rivers. Just use those for increased irrigation and I bet you could sustain a lot of people there, potentially, as long as the focus remains centered on subsistence.
The question is why people would move there just to grow food.
What if the Majapahit Empire or another Malay group formed colonies in Arnhem Land? Given the population densities of the Malay islands, couldn't the Northern Territory fit 10 million people?