Science Can Help Australia Support More People [1950]

Russell arrived in Australia believing vaguely in the country’s vast, untapped potential and that this simply required more people to be fully realized, along with the proper application of modern scientific technique. This optimism was reinforced during his nine-week stay and struck a chord with many Australians, as well as aligning with official policies on population growth and rural development. In a New Year’s article looking fifty years ahead, he had already speculated about the possibility of transforming Australia’s arid interior. The problem of accommodating a very much larger population in Australia without any lowering of the standard of life is partly one of administration and public expenditure. There appears to be a large area of fertile land as yet undeveloped in Australia—particularly in far northern Queensland and in parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.