Andrew Melville-Smith

Andrew Melville-Smith

"I have known we are in trouble since listening to Prof. Paul Ehrlich in 1970 when I was 17 and there were only 3.5 billion people on this planet. I resolved not to have children and instead my wife and I have adopted three children from overseas. I have Engineering and Veterinary Science degrees and now run three veterinary practices in country South Australia. I have spent 30 years when my ideas about population and the environment were considered radical and extreme. Now those ideas are becoming acceptable and moving into the mainstream. But is it now too late?

"My approach to life is to lead by example and through the veterinary clinics we have an array of environment projects aimed at creating a better future for our children and raising people’s consciousness to the issues that face humanity. On the SPA committee I would be urging education through action."

• Executive Committee, Sustainable Population Australia