Right, a huge population is not the best idea; I would direct your attention to the living standards of China and India. hina might have a strong economy, but think of the average worker living in poverty earning a measely wage a day.
Further, the US, which some idiots, even in government, seem to think is a country to aspire to is, all things considered, behind Australia. In terms of economy the US outstrips us, but so be it. They have classes within their society that we don't have (but are beginning to emergev - unfortunately). Their are poverty traps in the US, places where people are doomed to work the rest of their lives in dead end jobs for a few dollars an hour like their parents before them. And there isn't a way they can get out of it. (A good documentary on this was the one buy the Supersize me guy).
America's agricultural set up is different to ours. Their methods involving livestock in some states are illegal over here, for good reason.
We cannot be compared to Europe in any plausible way; they are a cold, wet climate where as we are a hot, arid climate.
Australia, in terms of agriculture, could be easily self sufficient. Yet few companies are willing to pay the price to get the best produce available, prefering instead to go for cheap imports that detract from the Australian economy and undermine the workers of this country. Most water iceblocks are made in the Yangtzee (maybe incorrect spelling, but the English translation is "Yellow") river in China; the most poluted river in the world. Any meat imported to this country has not undergone the rigid health checks that Australian meat must undergo; the same is of course true for any vegetable produce.
Look what happened to our textile industry!
And, our employment may be high, but in a few years, at this rate, we'll be completely reliant upon other countries exports, unable to take care of ourselves. And it is worth noting that the mining industry is a big employer in Australia, but once we run out of coal (not too far from now) then the unemployment levels will skyrocket.
Encouraging the migrants out of Sydney and Melbourne is a good idea, but you can only send enough as is feasible, enough as can be supported by the available resources. Yesterday 14,000 people became citizens (how many had just migrated I'm not aware of), at that rate our infrastructure cannot sustain itself. They may add to the economy, theoretically, but practically?
The way this country is heading is towards services (can't remember the technical term). Everyone is going to be a marketer, but few are going to be doing the actual producing.
Being a technologically based country is stupid. We cannot keep up with Japan, quite simply. And we shouldn't have to. We should be playing our strength, while Japan plays it's strengths. They have no room for agriculture and thus have to turn to other avenues for employment. They are actually dependent upon the imports from other countries, such as us.
One of the biggest problems in this country is water. It is not only Sydney that suffers water shortages (despite what the media leads you to believe). This country seems to have a regular cycle of droughts, and as the average yearly temperature seems to be rising (global warming being the cause or not), this is only going to become worse.
By the way, the world's current population is 6 billion, theoretically the maximum that this planet can sustian is 9 billion, but I don't want to put it to the test.
P.S. Surplus may not be good economically, but humanely I can think of millions of starving Africans who would welcome our surplus. They can't afford it anyway, so it's not like we'll be lowering the price.
P.P.S. Wheat is a thirsty crop, hence the row over irrigation (probably didn't make the Sydney news). But it is a crop Australia is known for. I don't know anything about Oranges though.
