What about the coal mines? They are steadily destroying farmland as well. With the huge mining expansion planned for the next few years, the impact will be huge. At least farm country over-run with urbanisation could be rehabilitated - you could flatten the houses and the soil below would still be intact. Farm country that is dug up for coal mining is destroyed for ever.

Planting houses on prime productive land is ludicrous as the fruit from these houses is most unpalatable in many ways. The owners of this productive land, on the urban fringe, must be protected from exhorbitant taxes and be able to realise the true value of their land if they choose to sell.

The last paragraph seems a trifle sensationalist. Why do these 'journalists' do this? Surely 2.1% of Australia's 22 million can't be more than 1.1% of India's population of over a billion, as the statement seems to imply. Is this more subtle journalistic slanting designed to induce a vague fear and make us all feel guilty?

As I've said before put national parks around the cities. That might stop expansion.

If anyone doubts the fact that the average Australian house is big enough to fit two families, then they should reflect on the 18 people who were recently found by the fire brigade in a single house in Brisbane. The much less extreme option of converting existing houses into two flats has been actively discouraged for more than three decades by, surprise, surprise, the planning profession and council planning laws. Whats more, the cost for a standard 'lift and shift' of a single storey house is only $10,000 so an additional two dwellings can be added underneath without the need for an extra roof. The resulting four households per block might be a bit much by most Australian's standards but it is by no means the upper limit of low cost housing potential. True, concrete slabs which are often mandatory do not lend themselves to easy lifting. But there is every indication that a roof can be lifted for about the same price as a floor. If this was allowed for just 3.3% of our existing housing stock we could house another 10% or 2.2 million people without the loss of a single hectare. And the kids might get a first home they can actually afford.