Sydney counts the costs of endless population growth

Neither policymakers nor proponents of a Big Australia accept the importance of water in the immigration debate.

A succession of papers has warned that Australia will experience chronic water shortages and escalating water bills as its population rises by millions, driven by chronically high immigration levels.

For example, Infrastructure Australia’s 2017 modelling forecast that real household water costs will more than quadruple over 50 years due to rapid population growth and climate change, rising from $1,226 in 2017 to $6,000 in 2067 in real terms.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.