Dick Smith has warned that Australia could swell to 100 million residents by the end of the century, saying he plans to revive the notorious Grim Reaper television campaign from the 1980s HIV crisis to sound the alarm over what he describes as a looming overpopulation emergency.
The 82-year-old businessman launched what he called a “call to arms” on population growth this week, taking out advertisements in major city newspapers under the headline: “Overpopulation will destroy Australia.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Smith pointed out that Australia has not yet reached 30 million people, yet he said many young Australians are already being forced into what he likened to “termite mound” apartment towers or suburban houses with barely any backyard space.
“I think I might bring back that Grim Reaper ad campaign, actually I will,” he said.
In the advertisement, Smith argued that ordinary households already make careful decisions about family size, writing: “Every Aussie family has a population plan. They can have up to 20 children but they don’t. Instead they have a number they can give a good life to.”
He then contrasted that with national policy, adding: “Yet our political parties have no similar plan for our country!”
Smith said rising population numbers make almost every major challenge harder to solve, warning that advances in automation, robotics and artificial intelligence could mean fewer jobs are available in years to come.
He questioned whether Australians wanted a future in which their children and grandchildren struggled to build meaningful careers, could not afford a home with a backyard, and instead faced a daily reality dominated by worsening traffic congestion.
Dick Smith has launched a new ad campaign warning against overpopulation
A snippet of Smith’s latest newspaper ad
A still from Smith 2017 Grim Reaper-inspired TV ad warning against overpopulation
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How do you think soaring population and high-rise living are changing Australia for future generations?
‘Eight of ten Australians want a population plan.’
Smith also used his ads to urge voters to contact politicians regarding a plan for overpopulation.
‘Ask your state and federal politicians to come up with a plan as we can’t grow forever,’ the ad reads. ‘Don’t let wealthy donors to political parties destroy Australia as we know it today.’
Smith told the Daily Mail he’s received ‘amazing support’ since the ads went into circulation.
‘I get stopped in the street by people who now believe Australia is getting too overpopulated,’ Smith said.
He said the government needs to cap immigration to 70,000 people a year and announce a population plan.
Smith also said allowing endless immigration is just ‘endless growth, endless greed’.
‘We would have over 100 million about the end of the century when our grandchildren will still be alive,’ Smith said.
A still from the 1980s Grim Reaper ad campaign which terrified Aussies
Smith based his TV ad campaign on the AIDS ad (above) because it was effective in raising awareness
‘[The ad campaign] is a call to arms, hopefully Labor comes to the party. Our PM is a good PM but you can’t just kowtow to the billionaires, they keep pushing for immigration because they want their tens of billions to turn into 20 billions.
‘Immigration is not geared to help the Aussie family, it’s about helping the rich.’
Smith said he believed capping immigration at 70,000 and capping the population at 30million ‘sounds about right’ but he admits it is difficult to lock down a particular number.
Smith also said One Nation has ‘certainly got the right policy in bring down the immigration numbers to 70,000’.
‘Everyone is telling me “I’m going to vote for One Nation”, but I’m not sure if they have a population plan,’ Smith said.
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‘The Greens don’t, Labor doesn’t, it’s so simple, let’s get the experts in and say what would be the optimum number [for population], I think it’s something between 28 and 30 million.’
‘I just can’t believe Anthony Albanese doesn’t have a plan, what is the optimum number and how we get there and that’s what I’ll be asking of politicians.
‘Right now it’s just Dick Smith spending his hard-earned money [raising awareness of overpopulation].’
Smith said Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party has ‘certainly got the right policy in bringing down the immigration numbers to 70,000’
Smith also blasted the ABC for pushing an immigration agenda.
‘The ABC is pushing for just absolutely endless growth,but how can we sustain such a number?’ he said.
‘Australian mothers are very bright, they are only having children they know they can look after.’
Smith has previously called on the Albanese government to stop letting record numbers of immigrants in after it was revealed the country’s population hit 28million earlier this month
Smith urged the government to lower immigration as Bureau of Statistics data this week showed that another person is added every 75 seconds, which is courtesy of immigration, rather than the country’s plateauing birth rate.
Smith added that he’s pro-immigration, given Australia needs more skilled workers and has a declining birth rate, but only to a number that resources can support.
The ABS forecasts population growth will surge at a more rapid rate over the next few decades.
It estimates the country will reach a population of 30million in the next five years and 45 million before 2070.
Smith (pictured with wife Pip) said overpopulation will hurt Aussie families
That data indicates a baby born today will be alive to see Australia’s population reach 100million.
The massive increase is largely being driven by record levels of immigration.
Immigration refers to people permanently settling in Australia from overseas while migration more widely refers to temporary travel.
The ABS claimed one baby is born in Australia every two minutes and 16 seconds while one person arrives to live in Australia every 59 seconds.
Overall, that makes the population grow by one person roughly every 75 seconds.
‘It’s completely irresponsible because a typical Australian family can have 20 children in their lifetime but none do,’ Smith said.
‘All parents have a population plan but our politicians have no population plan for the country as a whole.’
Smith also previously expressed fears homes with a backyard in capital cities will no longer exist by 2050 due to high immigration.
Smith noted that backyards are shrinking ‘so there’s no room to do anything in them’
Smith predicted housing will be even more ‘catastrophically’ unaffordable as Australia’s population booms
He said by then housing will have become even more ‘catastrophically’ unaffordable and Australia’s population will be heading towards 50 million people.
‘We’re moving to a situation that I would say is similar to battery hens,’ he told Daily Mail.
‘We used to have free range chooks in our housing, in other words, parents could buy a place with a backyard for their kids to play in.
‘Now, it’s as if we’re going to the battery chook version of that, where people live in high-rises, crammed in like termites.’
Smith said humans haven’t evolved to live in ultra-dense apartments.
‘When I fly my helicopter over the Sydney suburbs, especially the western suburbs, it’s places just crammed in on each other,’ he said.
‘The backyards are only two metres in depth, so there’s no room to do anything in them. Now, those places with backyards are going to be replaced with high-rises.’
If a young Australian was shown a photograph of a typical 1960s house with a backyard versus a picture of a dense unit complex, Smith said there was ‘absolutely no doubt’ they would choose the home.
‘We’re forcing them into these termite mound-type, high-rise developments, which is not going to be good for our young people,’ he said.
