Dick Smith's Population Puzzle (ATOM Study Guide)

Dick Smith's Population Puzzle tells the story of Dick Smith's campaign to change national attitudes on population growth and to force the Australian government to reverse its backing of a rapid population increase for Australia.

The 67-minute film follows Smith as he takes a barnstorming tour of Australia, meeting with experts, talking to ordinary Australians, giving public talks and appearing in the media.

The film delves into Smith's life, returning to his original home in the Sydney suburb of Roseville where he lived in the 1950s – halcyon days when migrants were welcomed as they sailed into Sydney and everyone lived on quarter-acre blocks. The camera follows Smith as he jumps out of his jet to address the 'enemy' – the Queensland property developers' annual meeting. It's with him as he takes talkback radio calls in Canberra. It follows him into the offices of Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Evans and as he sits with a taxi driver who is sick of waiting in traffic. It goes with him to Alan Jones' studio and to the outer western suburbs of Melbourne with veteran property developer Bert Dennis, who is building a new suburb for 25,000 people. It's in the paddocks with a citrus farmer in South Australia who has accepted the government's $150,000 incentive package to leave the land. And it follows Smith to Bangladesh, where he witnesses the 'brain drain' effect, where much-needed doctors and nurses migrate to wealthier countries like Australia.

Population is a complicated and controversial subject and, despite its importance, it has rarely been debated in Australia. We currently have the highest population growth rate in the developed world, which would take us from today's population of 22 million to a predicted 36 million people or more in 2050. This unprecedented growth amounts to what demographer Bob Birrell describes to Smith as 'a revolution in our immigration policy'.

But Australia has one of the youngest populations in the developed world, and our push to bring in skilled workers has undermined our education system, placed extra stress on our health system and made it even harder for us to reduce our carbon footprint.

Smith's mission to slow this tide is a journey through one of the most important public policy issues facing Australia – finding the optimum population for a sustainable Australia.

Curriculum Applicability

Dick Smith's Population Puzzlecan be used as a classroom resource in middle- and upper-secondary classes in:

• English
• Society and Environment
• Australian History
• Geography
• Civics and Citizenship