Could Avalon end up like Shanghai by 2050? Dick Smith calls for curb on immigration

AVALON could end up dominated by high rises like Shanghai and New York by 2050 if politicians don’t start protecting the “Australian way of life”, says businessman Dick Smith.

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BUSINESSMAN Dick Smith has taken out a national newspaper advert calling on the 96 preselectors for the Liberal seat of Mackellar to vote for a candidate who will protect the Australian way of life.

A picture of how Avalon Beach may look in 2050 — packed with people and ugly high rise buildings — ran with the quarter page advert in The Australian yesterday.

In the copy, Mr Smith said homes in Mackellar were typically on quarter acre blocks, with backyards where “free range kids” can play cricket.

Is this how Avalon Beach will look in 2050? This image was featured in a national newspaper advertisement placed by Terrey Hills businessman Dick Smith. He's concerned about overpopulation.

But, if the population continued to increase at the current rate, it could one day look like Shanghai or New York.

“Eventually every single house will be knocked down and replaced with high rises,” Mr Smith, of Terrey Hills, told the Manly Daily.

He said he had placed the advert because most Liberal politicians believed in perpetual growth, which was unsustainable.

While he said he was not backing any candidate for the seat, he was pleased Walter Villatora had expressed concerns about the issue. Another prominent candidate is Jason Falinksi.

Liberal party powerbroker Walter Villatora poses during a photo shoot at the beach near his Manly home. Picture: Troy Snook

Mr Smith also renewed his threat to stand as an independent against current incumbent Bronwyn Bishop, if she was preselected.

“If they preselect Bronwyn Bishop, I am standing and I will get an enormous amount of votes,” Mr Smith told the Manly Daily.

On Saturday 96 preselectors, around half of them locals, will determine whether former speaker Ms Bishop, will recontest the seat, which she has dominated since 1994.

Mr Smith has vowed to stand against current MP Bronwyn Bishop if she wins the preselection this Saturday.

Mr Smith, who sold his electronics empire of the same name in 1982, said Australia needed to curb its immigration numbers from around about 200,000 a year, to 70,000.

He said otherwise by the end of the century Australia could be home to as many as 100m people.

He said Mackellar was at the “sweet point” but already the infrastructure could not cope with the increasing population, evident in the amount of traffic travelling from the beaches to the city every day.