City not ready for population boom

Australian Greens member Peter Luxton believes Ipswich is not geared to handle an increase in population.

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IPSWICH leaders remain divided over managing the region’s population growth.

Australian Greens member Peter Luxton has backed calls by party leader Bob Brown to establish an independent inquiry into the nation’s population.

Mr Luxton, who ran for mayor at the 2008 local government election, said Ipswich was struggling under the weight of a booming population.

“Ipswich has been the target for a lot of population growth, with not a lot of benefits,” he said.

“The state and local governments do not have the maturity to manage the growth and we simply do not have the basic infrastructure in place.

“We need to look at infrastructure first, population second. There’s too much emphasis on development and not enough emphasis on getting the infrastructure right before the development takes place.

“Rail services and the motorway are completely inadequate.”

While Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale admitted “infrastructure has not kept up with growth”, he said the city was starting to strike a balance.

“Population growth is actually helping us as a city. We’re starting to get some valuable infrastructure in place like the Ipswich Motorway and the rail upgrade,” Cr Pisasale said.

“I’d rather be managing growth than doing the opposite. We did that in Ipswich before and we had high unemployment, a high crime rate and our young people couldn’t wait to leave the place.

“We’ve turned all that around, and while I think infrastructure has not kept up with growth, all three levels of government are working together to correct that.”

Senator Brown said the world was buckling under a “vast and threatening population weight” and urged the government to investigate the impact on infrastructure, the environment, health and education.

“We live in a fantastic continent, privileged above all on the face of this planet,” he said.

“It’s going to take some very wise decision-making to keep it that way.”