The Ghost Cities of Australia by Julian Bolleter

Author:Julian Bolleter
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Proponents of northern development envisage often-extreme population growth in the north, in part, because of its growing geopolitical importance. Commentators on northern development consider that northern Australia sits at the intersection of the “two most important global axes of the 21st century: Asia and the tropics” (Roux et al. 2014)—two regions that are projected to grow significantly in terms of population and economic might. Nonetheless, northern Australia continues to be considered a “frontier” commensurate, to some degree, with the historic frontiers such as the American West; the Canadian West and North; the Siberian Far East and South-center; the Brazilian Northeast, Southeast, and Interior; China’s Sinkiang and Manchuria; and the Southern African veldt (Cohen 2000). Because historical attempts at intensive development have been sporadic, northern Australia offers the largest intact “savanna remaining on Earth, an extraordinarily vast, natural landscape with a rich biodiversity of international significance” (Nix et al. 2013). Indigenous cultural life in northern Australia also remains strong, bound to the landscapes, rivers, and wildlife that these traditional owners have managed for tens of thousands of years. Nonetheless, indigenous people in the north continue to experience “chronic disadvantage” (Raupach et al. 2012).

Despite the profound ecological and cultural richness of the north, the recent federal government white paper “Our North, Our Future” (Australian Government 2015) sees the potential of northern Australia largely through an economic lens—depicting the north as a place of endless economic bounty and limitless opportunity. As the report boldly declares:Development will require many more people living in the north. Transformation won’t happen if its population inches up by a few hundred thousand over the next 20 years. It would remain a high cost, small scale economy; more of a pilot project than a powerhouse. We need to lay the foundations for rapid population growth and put the north on a trajectory to reach a population of four to five million by 2060 (Australian Government 2015).

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