Perth's population to soar due to immigration

From ABC News:

Perth's population to soar

ABC News
June 27, 2008

A new study predicts Perth is set for a population explosion far exceeding State Government forecasts.

A leading demographer says it is an early warning for the state to plan ahead or face traffic, health and housing chaos in coming years.

950 people move to WA every week and the unprecedented growth is set to continue.

Monash University demographer, Bob Birrell, predicts Perth's population will soar 43 per cent by 2021 to 2.1 million people.

"The big problem Perth faces is the pace of growth, that's why we're seeing housing prices in Perth at Sydney levels," he said.

An influx of 640,000 people over the next 13 years would represent the fastest rate of growth for any Australian city in history.

Dr Birrell says the impact will be felt in demand for housing, hospitals, schools and public transport.

"It would seem to me that the logical thing to do would be to slow the pace of growth down," he said.

"Let's slow the mineral boom down a bit.

"Those resources will still be in the ground in 20 years time, they'll probably be worth even more."

But the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure Alannah MacTiernan is standing by the government's population modelling that predicts a 27 per cent rise by 2021.

"It is possible," she said.

"We would suggest that it's unlikely but either way perth is going to get much bigger and we have to be prepared to have a more diverse city if we're going to be able to deal with it."

James Pearson from the Chamber of Commerce has released a blueprint it hopes will keep the boom going longer.

It wants migration from China and India substantially increased to help fill 400,000 new jobs in the next decade.

"It makes sense to us that we should be looking towards Asia where our major trading and investment partners are a big proportion of those migrants," he said.

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