Dick Smith’s warning as Australian population explodes: ‘100 million by 2100’

Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith has issued a grim warning on Australia’s future, revealing what he sees as the ‘relentless’ problem.

The former retail giant frontman, whose brand Dick Smith lives on through an online store now owned by Kogan, warned that Australia is hurtling towards a population of 100 million, something he says is “ridiculous” due to the dry country we live in.

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Australia had surpassed a population of 28 million, with an extra person now added to the pool every 75 seconds.

“This is completely driven by immigration,” Mr Smith told The Daily Telegraph, reacting to Australia’s new milestone.

“The natural birthrate is below replacement level because Australian families are sensible.”

Mr Smith criticised governments for pushing a “big Australia” plan, something he says does not align with the population’s values.

“They (Governments) have a population plan, but Australia doesn’t,” he added.

The electronics giant didn’t shy away from pointing the finger at the problem, something many Australians agree with: immigration.

“The problem at the ­moment is the relentless level of immigration,” he said.

“We’re going to get to 100 million by 2100, when our grandchildren will still be alive.

“One hundred million is a ridiculous number for a dry country like Australia.”

His claim that the birthrate is below replacement level is something that stacks up.

Leading demographer Liz Allen says the declining birth rate reflects a “clusterf... of policy failure”.

“It is a cluster of policy issues that have the nation at a tipping point,” she told The Nightly.

“We have multiple crises that have not been adequately dealt with for generations to the point where alarms are going off and, if we don’t act promptly, there is no turning back.”

The Australian National University senior lecturer said Australians were increasingly weighing up housing costs, job security, gender inequality and climate concerns before deciding whether to have children.

Far from being selfish or materialistic, she said many young adults were making deeply considered decisions about the world their future children would inherit.

“People are taking action by way of their reproductive organs,” she said.

“They’re thinking and weighing the pros and cons of what tomorrow looks like and what any prospective children might be coming into.”

With Australians now living longer, immigration levels staying high and general population growth, Australia having a population of 100 million in the near future is a real prospect.

Add to the mix growing industries like the tech sector, which is causing a boom in data centre construction, something that needs vast amounts of water to run, Australia will need a plan and fast if population growth isn’t slowed.

How governments plan to support a population of that size, though, remains unclear.

Around 90 per cent of Australians live within 50km of the coastline, with the highest concentration off the eastern and southeastern seaboard.

Big capital cities like Sydney and Melbourne are already overflowing, bubbling over to nearby cities like Newcastle and Geelong.