Region. Food production lost

Sydney would lose about half its land used for fresh fruit and vegetable production immigration-linked urban sprawl, according to lead researcher, Jonathan Sobels, from Flinders University, in the 335-page Long-term Physical Implications of Net Overseas Migration: Australia in 2050 report. He said farms and public land would be consumed as bulging cities expanded. The National Institute of Labour Studies report finds that Sydney and Melbourne will each require more than 430,000 hectares of new land for housing if net overseas migration remains above 260,000 a year.