Australian businessman Dick Smith has lamented the “relentless level of immigration” which has driven the country’s population to new heights.
On Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recorded the number of people in Australia had surpassed 28 million.
Current projections have the population reaching 29 million by late 2028.
Mr Smith said the exponential growth was “completely driven by immigration” and not Australians having babies.
“The natural birthrate is below replacement level because Australian families are sensible. They have a population plan, but Australia doesn’t,” Mr Smith told The Daily Telegraph.
The Australian businessman said if the current trend continued, the population could reach 100 million by the year 2100.
“The problem at the moment is the relentless level of immigration,” he said.
“We’re going to get to 100 million by 2100, when our grandchildren will still be alive.
“One hundred million is a ridiculous number for a dry country like Australia.”
The ABS estimates that a person arrives to live in Australia every 59 seconds, with an overall population increase of one person every one minute and 15 seconds.
Meanwhile, there is one birth every two minutes and 16 seconds, and one death every three minutes and 33 seconds.
The ABS model also estimates that in 2026, the average age of the country is 39.72 years old, with the female population being 1.8 per cent higher than the male population.
Based on the current model used by the Australian Population Clock, the nation’s population is projected to reach 29 million sometime in 2028 and could rise to 30 million by 2031.
In 2025, the projected population was 27,594,464, compared to 28,086,207 in 2026 – an increase of 491,743.
Last month, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor revealed the Coalition’s sweeping new immigration policy would slash migrant arrivals by at least 70 per cent.
The proposal would cap immigration according to housing construction, meaning the government could not bring in more people than the country could accommodate.
According to figures in the federal budget, Australia will welcome 35,000 additional people in 2025-26 compared to the previous forecast, and an extra 20,000 in 2026-27 financial year.
This means there will be a total net overseas migration of 1.2 million people between 2025 and 2030.