There are now more than 27 million people calling Australia home – a quick jump of 1 million people in less than two years thanks to post-pandemic overseas migration.

The national population grew by 2.3% to 27.1 million in the year ending 31 March, according to new data released by the Australia Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

Since 2007, it has grown on average by a million about every two-and-three-quarter years.

The 27 million milestone took just one-and-three-quarter years, which Phil Browning, the ABS demography director, said was “far quicker than the average”.

It was also quicker than population growth for the previous milestone of 25 million to 26 million, which took just shy of four years, from September 2018 to June 2022. This plateau is attributable to Covid-era lockdowns.

When the border opened post-pandemic, net overseas migration increased in “fairly large numbers,” Browning said.

Overseas migration made up 83% of the past year’s population growth.

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Net overseas migration – counting both people who have entered and left Australia – was 509,800 people. Students made up a “sizeable chunk” of that, Browning said.

“That’s down from a peak of 559,900 in September 2023 … but it’s still high,” he said.

Annual natural increase – counting both births and deaths – was 105,500 people.

“Natural increase is not moving a whole lot, and overseas migration is the significant driver,” Browning said.

The total fertility rate sits at about 1.6 births per woman, which Browning described as “historically, fairly low”. “We don’t know if that will continue or not, but it doesn’t show any signs of going up or down at the moment.”

Every state and territory had positive population growth. Western Australian had the largest, at 3.1%, and Tasmania the lowest, at 0.4%.

The next milestone of 28 million is projected for 2027.

The ABS has predicted Australia’s population could hit 30 million by the year 2033.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed that the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello indeed showed up at its office but was not interrogated.

Bello is being wanted by the EFCC over alleged N80.2 billion fraud.

After five months of running, he finally showed up at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) headquarters, ready for questioning.

The EFCC, however, rejected the method by which he reported to the commission because he was with accompanied by his successor, Usman Ododo and other dignitaries.

According to the anti-graft agency, this method violated its invitation protocol.

Despite Bello’s presence, EFCC did not attend to him.

A source told The Nation: “Upon realising that Bello came with the governor and some dignitaries, the Executive Chairman directed that no official should attend to him.

“His manner of coming to EFCC was a breach of our protocol. No Nigerian, no matter how highly placed, is expected to come for an invitation in a convoy of vehicles and with a sitting governor.

“To the EFCC, he came with grandeur which is contrary to our procedures.

“There are stages of documentation which Bello skipped because he was with the governor who has immunity.

“The EFCC also did not invite the governor. So, what was the basis for accompanying Bello to our headquarters in Abuja?

“We have not been comfortable with the roles of the governor in this case.

“After fulfilling all procedures of documentation, Bello was expected to come with his lawyer(s) and not a governor or Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

“We cannot be intimidated or subject our system to political pollution.

“This made the Executive Chairman of EFCC to direct that no official should attend to Bello. He must undergo due process like every invitee.

“The commission was unhappy with the pre-emptive propaganda in the media by Bello’s team which had created false impressions.

“There was a narration that the ex-governor was already in EFCC’s custody but he’s not here. He’s still being wanted.

“As long as Bello does not conform with our protocol, our operatives will arrest him. We are still looking for him.”

On Wednesday night, EFCC operatives reportedly laid siege to the Kogi Government Lodge, Asokoro in an attempt to arrest Bello, while shooting sporadically.

“We want to place it on record that the EFCC should be held accountable if anything untoward happens to him,” Bello’s media office said.

An increase in Russian military planes and vessels near American territory has pressured the US to relocate 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in Alaska.

Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels – including two submarines – have come close to the ‘last frontier’ in the past week as Russia and China have conducted joint military drills, beginning on September 10.

A Pentagon spokesperson said there was no cause for alarm as the aircrafts have yet to breach U.S. airspace.

‘It’s not the first time that we’ve seen the Russians and the Chinese flying in the vicinity and that’s something that we obviously closely monitor,’ Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference.

‘It’s also something that we’re prepared to respond to,’ he added.

Russia and China began the military exercises in the Pacific and Arctic oceans on September 10.

As part of a ‘force projection operation,’ the U.S. Army sent soldiers to Shemya Island – some 1,200 miles southwest of the Alaskan capitol – on September 12.

The soldiers brought two HIMARS to the derelict island and the U.S. military deployed a guided missile destroyer and a Coast Guard vessel.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command tracked and detected Russian military planes operating off Alaska over a four-day span with two planes each day beginning on September 11.

The planes operated in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone – a zone beyond U.S. sovereign airspace – but within which the U.S. expects aircraft to identify themselves.

The Russian Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The number of such invasions have fluctuated yearly, NORAD reports. The average was six to seven interceptions a year though last year, 26 Russian planes came into the Alaska zone and so far this year there have been 25.

In such encounters it is common for the U.S. military to provide photos of the Russian warplanes being escorted by either U.S. or Canadian planes.

However none were released in the past week and a NORAD spokeswoman, Canadian Maj. Jennie Derenzis, declined to say whether jets were scrambled to intercept the Russian planes.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday its homeland security vessel – the 418-foot Stratton – was on routine patrol in the Chukchi Sea when it tracked four Russian Federation Navy vessels about 60 miles northwest of Point Hope, Alaska.

The Russian vessels, which included two submarines, a frigate and a tugboat, had crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, which is permitted under international rules and customs.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan called for a larger military presence in the Aleutians while advocating for the U.S. to respond with strength to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

‘In the past two years, we´ve seen joint Russian-Chinese air and naval exercises off our shores and a Chinese spy balloon floating over our communities,’ Sullivan said in a statement.

‘These escalating incidents demonstrate the critical role the Arctic plays in great power competition between the U.S., Russia, and China.’

Sullivan said the U.S. Navy should reopen its shuttered base at Adak, located in the Aleutians. Naval Air Facility Adak was closed in 1997.

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