Challenge of handling Qld population boom is a welcome one

Predictions that the population of South East Queensland is going to soar over the next two decades are welcome, provided our state and local governments prove themselves capable of managing six million people.

Predictions that the population of South East Queensland is going to soar over the next two decades are welcome, provided our state and local governments prove themselves capable of managing six million people.

Queensland has the weather, the reef, the beaches and the islands as well as the great expanse of the outback all combining to make this state the most attractive in the nation when it comes to lifestyle.

It is no wonder people want to join us in calling it home, and millions do.

In fact, the state government’s latest population predictions suggest as many as six million people will call South East Queensland home by 2046.

That means we are going to have another 2 million or so neighbours among us by mid-century. The Sunday Mail, in an exclusive report, reveals the predictions based on government modelling and sets out how the newcomers will be distributed across the region.

Jessy Meredith with three-year-old Oliver and two-year-old Eli, has an investment home in the Moreton Bay region and lives in one in the Brisbane City Council region because she saw both places booming. Picture: Richard Walker

Ipswich City Council’s population is set to grow by a whopping 126 per cent by 2046, surging to more than half a million people. Logan City Council’s population would almost double to 662,000 people, while Moreton Bay Council would have a 62 per cent rise, boasting 787,000 people in two decades time.

Meanwhile, Brisbane City Council’s population is tipped to grow by a more modest 36 per cent to reach 1.7 million people.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles is taking the upbeat and positive view, seeing the new arrivals as our “decade of opportunity”.

That may be so, but the challenges in coping with this surge in arrivals are many, and not least among them is housing.

The present housing crisis is devastating to thousands of Queensland families, but the shortage of stock will be alleviated in the years ahead as the construction industry finds its feet after the devastation of the Covid years. What is perhaps more challenging is the manner in which we choose to live, with the latest data showing the move to solitary living accelerating.

The modelling suggests that these one-person households will increase by as much as 17 per cent so that, by 2046, 40 per cent of households will be single person.

Clearly, we are going to have to rethink not merely our housing supply levels but our housing designs. The quarter-acre block will recede in the historical review mirror and intensive housing will become the norm.

We are also going to have to pursue far more realistic public transport options, with initiatives such as Brisbane City Council’s Brisbane Metro, with services such as dedicated busways from Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street operating 24 hours a day, a great start. And our roads systems will need attention.

We will cope with this surge in newcomers, as we have in the past.

And we should feel some gratitude that we live in such a beautiful part of the world that so many want to come and join us.