This Saturday: Politics, Population and Ports: SPAVICTAS AGM July 12 Speaker is Jenny Warfe

THE state government has backed a growth plan for the south-west of Victoria which predicts the region’s population will expand to 132,000 people by 2041. The government has prepared eight regional plans with country Victoria’s population tipped to exceed two million in the coming decades. There are no funding promises or proposals in the 88-page document! The Standard: Plans for South West Growth There are always these grandiose growth plans, and governments celebrate population growth and give the impression that it is inevitable, and must be "planned" for. They are actually targeted growth plans. They are never able to fund the growth, and services and administration keeps getting cut back. "Planning" is in hindsight, when they get funding! How are people to be part of a growth scheme without infrastructure, and any environmental impact studies on fragile coastal areas. What about jobs? Housing doesn't increase productivity, and they are not export commodities.