Melbourne "wrecked" and "full"

In a column entitled "Melbourne is wrecked, and full", Andrew Bolt makes the link between high immigration and Melbourne's declining quality of life.

He writes:

It’s bad enough that we’re already struggling to keep our most basic services running.

But now consider this: at the rate we’re being growing lately, Victoria will add at least another 1.5 million to its population over the next 20 years.

In fact, it could well be more. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last year cranked up our immigration intake to a record high - more than 330,000 a year, if you include workers on temporary visas. And that’s not yet counting new births.

A year ago, even before Rudd opened our door even wider, the Australian Bureau of Statistics noted Australia’s population was now growing by 1.6 per cent a year, which means that if we don’t stop this madness, there will be half as many of us again by 2050.

And, of course, most of these new people will be trying to squeeze into our cities. Like Melbourne.

Imagine Melbourne growing 50 per cent bigger in your children’s lifetime, if not your own. That’s 50 per cent more people, cars, houses, gardens, air-conditioners and train travellers. Everywhere where’s there’s two, imagine three by 2050.

Forget the social stresses of simply getting on with so many more immigrants, or of trying even to find a little elbow room.

Consider this more basic problem: how on earth are we going to give all our new neighbours power, water, roads, land and trains when we don’t have enough for the people here already?

*snip*

Kicking out this government may not be enough to stop our slide. After all, there is little evidence yet that the Liberals would be any better.

But one thing is clear and urgent: until we learn once more how to give our citizens power and water, trains and roads, we must cut immigration.

After all, why inflict on two million more strangers what we’ve just endured ourselves? We’d only double our pain.

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