STUDY GUIDE by Robert Lewis
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DICK SMITH’S POPULATION PUZZLE A STUDY GUIDE by robert lewis http://www.metromagazine.com.au http://www.theeducationshop.com.au OVERVIEW Population is a complicated and controversial subject and, despite its importance, it has rarely been debated in Aus- Dick Smith’s Population Puzzle tells the story of Dick Smith’s tralia. We currently have the highest population growth rate campaign to change national attitudes on population growth in the developed world, which would take us from today’s and to force the Australian government to reverse its back- population of 22 million to a predicted 36 million people or ing of a rapid population increase for Australia. more in 2050. This unprecedented growth amounts to what demographer Bob Birrell describes to Smith as ‘a revolution The 67-minute film follows Smith as he takes a barn- in our immigration policy’. storming tour of Australia, meeting with experts, talking to ordinary Australians, giving public talks and appearing in the But Australia has one of the youngest populations in the de- media. veloped world, and our push to bring in skilled workers has undermined our education system, placed extra stress on The film delves into Smith’s life, returning to his original our health system and made it even harder for us to reduce home in the Sydney suburb of Roseville where he lived in our carbon footprint. the 1950s – halcyon days when migrants were welcomed as they sailed into Sydney and everyone lived on quarter-acre Smith’s mission to slow this tide is a journey through one of blocks. The camera follows Smith as he jumps out of his jet the most important public policy issues facing Australia – to address the ‘enemy’ – the Queensland property develop- finding the optimum population for a sustainable Australia. ers’ annual meeting. It’s with him as he takes talkback radio calls in Canberra. It follows him into the offices of Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Evans and as he sits with a taxi driver who is sick of waiting in traffic. It goes with CURRICULUM him to Alan Jones’ studio and to the outer western suburbs APPLICABILITY of Melbourne with veteran property developer Bert Dennis, Dick Smith’s Population Puzzle who is building a new suburb for 25,000 people. It’s in the can be used as a classroom resource paddocks with a citrus farmer in South Australia who has in middle- and upper-secondary accepted the government’s $150,000 incentive package to classes in: leave the land. And it follows Smith to Bangladesh, where English SCREEN EDUCATION he witnesses the ‘brain drain’ effect, where much-needed Society and Environment doctors and nurses migrate to wealthier countries like Australian History Australia. Geography Civics and Citizenship 2 BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM There are some key ideas and facts that you need to understand before watching the film. Look at the following information and answer the questions in each section. A. Australia’s sustainable population (or ‘carrying’ capacity) This refers to the population size that a nation can sustain. ‘Sustainability’ means that in any given year, the resources and energy consumed are replaced in that same year. Es- sential resources include clean water, clean air, food, shelter, warmth and other resources necessary to sustain healthy C. Components of Australia’s population life. It also includes such ‘quality of life’ elements as medi- cal care, education, proper sewage treatment and waste Australia’s growth depends on two elements: births and disposal. deaths, and immigration and emigration. The difference between births and deaths, and between immigration and Nobody knows what this is for Australia. Expert opinions emigration, is called the ‘net’ increase or decrease. Here is have varied over time. Estimates today vary from 11 mil- a graph showing Australia’s net birth rate and net overseas lion (by radical environmentalists) to 100 million (by radical migration increase over recent times. The two columns developers). added together give the total increase. 1. Why would there be disagreement about what ‘sustainability’ means? 2. What does it mean to you? B. Australia’s population total This is the resident population of Australia at any one time (excluding short-term visitors such as tourists). The es- timated figure at the start of August 2010 is 22,408,525, assuming an overall total population increase of one person every seventy-three seconds. You can check the current population estimate on the population clock at the Austral- ian Bureau of Statistics website at <http://www.abs.gov.au/ From this we can see the rate of growth of the population: ausstats/abs%40.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2 /1647509ef7e25faaca2568a900154b63?OpenDocument>. The population clock is also accessible via <http://www. abc.net.au/tv/populationpuzzle>. Here is a graph showing official population figures since 1989: Australian Bureau of Statistics 4102.0 Australian Social Trends, June 2010 5. Describe the rate of growth of the Australian population since 1989. 6. What is Australia’s current growth rate? SCREEN EDUCATION http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/ 4102.0Main+Features10Jun+2010 7. Which is the main component of that rate? 3. Describe the trend in this graph. 8. How typical is the growth rate since 2004? 4. What is happening to the graph from about 2006? 3 E. Population distribution Australia’s population is not distributed evenly across the continent. Australia is one of the most highly urbanised na- tions in the world. Here is a table showing the distribution of residents between capital cities and the rest of each state or territory in 2007: Capital City/balanCe of state ’000 Sydney 4334.0 Balance of New South Wales 2554.0 New South Wales total 6888.0 Melbourne 3805.8 Balance of Victoria 1399.1 Victoria total 5204.8 Brisbane 1857.0 D. Components of overseas migration Balance of Queensland 2324.5 Queensland total 4181.4 There are four main elements to Australia’s overseas migra- Adelaide 1158.0 tion intake: Balance of South Australia 426.2 South Australia total 1584.2 Temporary visas – given to overseas students, and • Perth 1554.1 people who are employed for a specific job for a specific Balance of Western Australia 552.0 time Western Australia total 2106.1 Hobart 207.4 • Permanent visas – given to skilled workers whom we target as migrants, family members of people who have Balance of Tasmania 286.0 permanent visas, and refugee immigrants under our Tasmania total 493.4 Refugee and Humanitarian Program Darwin 117.4 Balance of Northern Territory 97.5 • New Zealand residents, who are free to enter Australia Northern Territory total 214.9 without any restrictions. Australian Capital Territory (b) 339.8 Total capital cities (c) 13,373.4 Here are the latest available official figures (in thousands): Total balance of states and territories (d) (e) 7641.7 australia (e) 21,015.0 Contributions 2004 –5 2005–6 2006–7 2007–8 2008–9 to net overseas (b) Canberra and Balance of ACT not projected separately. migration growth (c) Includes ACT. (d) Excludes Balance of ACT. Temporary Visas 82.0 96.9 143.1 186.5 N/A (e) Includes Other Territories. Other Territories comprise Jervis Bay Territory, Christmas Island and the Cocos Permanent visas (Keeling) Islands. - Family 25.8 27.8 29.7 30.1 http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/5A313 - Skilled 32.1 39.0 43.4 47.0 N/A 9FFA7C3B9F6CA25773700169C5D?opendocument - Humanitarian 13.1 12.0 12.2 9.3 TOTAL 71.1 78.9 85.5 86.4 11. Which capital city has the greatest proportion of residents of its state/territory? NZ 20.6 23.1 29.8 36.1 N/A Australian citi- 31.2 27.4 25.6 31.7 N/A 12. Which has the smallest proportion? zens and others leaving Australia TOTAL 142.5 171.5 232.8 277.3 298.9 9. What is the largest component of Australian overseas SCREEN EDUCATION immigration? 10. Why might Australia want so many of these people? 4 F. Age and gender distribution consequences of this for the nation. For example, will it affect the number of hospitals needed? The number of 13. Describe the differences between these two population schools? What will be the impact on public transport? graphs. On the amount of money available to a government from taxation? F. Population projections Experts can estimate the likely size of a population in the future – but these predictions are estimates only, based on certain constants. If one of the constants changes, the results will change. The main constants are birth rates over australian bureau of statistics 4102.0 14. How can you explain these differences? Australian Social Trends, June 2010 15. What would you expect the 2030 population pyramid to look like? death rates, and migration size. Here are the estimates for Australia’s population up to 2051 for three possible sce- There is an animated population pyramid on the ABS narios: where birth and migration rates are high (Series A), website: <http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114. where they are medium (Series B), and where they are low nsf/home/Population%20Pyramid%20-%20Australia>. It (Series C). goes from 1971 to 2056. The pyramid is also featured on the Resources page of the ABC website <http://www.abc.net. 17. What is the difference in total population between Series SCREEN EDUCATION au/tv/populationpuzzle>. A (high birth rate and high immigration) and Series C (low birth rate and low immigration)? 16. There is an increasing proportion of older people in the population, and a decreasing proportion of people of 18. What does this tell you about the power of government working age.