Support among Australians for a growing population is crumbling amid fears of overcrowded cities and homes priced out of the reach of ordinary people, a new survey by the Australian National University has revealed.
As both the Morrison government and Shorten opposition consider their own approaches to population policy in the run-up to this year’s election, the ANU poll found just three out of 10 Australians believe the nation needs more people.
A similar poll conducted in 2010 found support for a growing population at 45 per cent.
The 15 percentage point fall was driven by a huge drop in support among male voters who in 2010 showed majority support for a bigger Australia. Male support has now fallen to 38.4 per cent.
In 2010, 38.5 per cent of female voters backed a growing population but this has now fallen to 28.2 per cent.
Over the past year, the nation’s population has grown by 390,500 of which 61 per cent was from net overseas migration.