From Philip Smith
Obviously Tim Flannery sees the optimum Australia as a desert (22 June, p 42). His desired population number of between 7 and 8 million puts the population density at one person per square kilometre, exactly equivalent to the Western Sahara, which has the lowest density in the world.
Self-supporting China, at 133 people per square kilometre, may be too cramped for most tastes (although nothing compared to Singapore at 6942 per square kilometre), but Australia can support many more people than at present, based on other countries’ statistics.
Could Flannery be a voice in the wilderness?
Austin, Texas
