When I tweeted today that, ‘small Australia may gain traction in Qld where population squeeze is a hot issue’, people replied that their impression was Queenslanders like growth. (Follow me on twitter).

Indeed Queenslanders are usually pro-growth. However as the Courier Mail points out in its editorial today, the problem with recent growth is that it has been mismanaged by the State Government.

Mismanaged growth has given rise to various groups of people taking the view that many parts of the Sunshine State have reached their capacity or at the very least the population squeeze is affecting their way of life. It’s a relatively new phenomenon in the mass market; opposition to population growth was once the sole domain of minority greens.

The CM also points out in that touting a ‘big Australia’ Kevin Rudd arrogantly ignored the fact that many suburbs in outer metropolitan Australian cities were feeling the pinch because of limited access to good transport or hospital care.

People are not mugs, they know that more people may mean more money in the economy, but most are scared about how increases in population will affect their access to schools, health services and transport.

Julia Gillard’s ‘small Australia’ views are obviously tracking well in the internal polls. The Prime Minister has banged on about ‘small Australia’ now for a couple of days.

Polls must also be showing that ‘small Australia’ is linked to people’s perception about illegal immigration. Gillard has not-so-intelligently linked the two so as to gain electoral traction.

How will a ‘small Australia’ play out in Queensland seat by seat?
When I was campaigning in Wright, residents in suburbs marked for expansion, which includes my own Council Division, all raised concerns about the provision of infrastructure and a belief that the State Government could not be trusted to get the basics right before the population came.

The history of poor infrastructure planning has plagued State Governments across Australia.

Residents in the small rural towns like Gatton and Boonah, expressed concerns that growth would soon reach their quiet and respectable town, in short transforming their idyllic and peaceful lifestyles as the city fringe creeps into their backyards.

It would be reasonable to expect this view would also be shared in towns throughout Blair, Longman, Bowman and Dickson. Forde is also an area which will receive large amounts of growth and lacks basic services.

Small Australia will resonate well in Fisher and Fairfax on the Sunshine Coast as suave voters in Noosa and the hinterland baulk at the thought of more people clogging their queue for a double shot short black.

This real and present concern with massive population growth is emerging as an issue in the electorate. It is obvious that polling has shown it’s an issue otherwise Gillard would not have jumped on it.

A population squeeze is a real winner for a party like the Nationals. The Nationals need to take the ground on this issue as protecting rural lifestyles while providing regional centres with good public infrastructure is their traditional territory.