I’m not talking about immigration policy because I don’t have the patience for another ugly right-versus-left pile-on about who should be allowed into the country.

I’m talking about the massive changes that are going on now and have been predicted to continue with the state’s population soaring to 6 million by 2046. Ask yourself if we are handing over to our children and grandchildren the city we want them to live in? What are we giving up to allow for population growth?

The State Government has said we can’t stop people from coming across the border so we should plan to deal with it and they’re right. Shutting the gate a declaring Fortress Queensland is not an option.

Population levels are a crucial debate we should be having because it changes everything: schools, roads, trains, hospitals, tax, employment, travel time – they are all heavily impacted but we seem to accept it as inevitable and necessary without really understanding what we are giving up.

Where is the debate about density and schools and roads and trains and maintaining lifestyle?

What if the majority has a view that we should be able to draw the line somewhere? And do they even have a right to hold those views?

What if there is a level at which the population of Brisbane becomes a negative? Are the economic benefits of population growth outweighed by the loss of lifestyle?

It would seem to me that we don’t even know when that is until it’s too late and we are stuck in a five-kilometre traffic jam just to get to work.

It seems we debate the issues singularly, but never as a greater picture of what we want.

Should the solution be inner city density and outer suburban heat-sink suburbs, with no trees, no yards and narrow roads that are planned by developers with a profit imperative?

Noosa Council is asking the same question: In essence, what is being demanded of us? What are we losing so that more people can come in?  And when is it too much?

The Sunshine Coast Council is asking for the inter-urban break (the pine forests) between it and Brisbane to be legislated so the sprawl stops somewhere. Is that fair? Is that likely to prevent important housing developments closer to Brisbane? That would seem to be an important issue that should be considered.

The people of West End and South Brisbane may also hold a view about towers of up to 90 storeys at Kurilpa where the Brisbane City Council plans to put another 10,000-plus people. That sort of influx will certainly have an impact.

It’s easy to ridicule the people of Noosa as elitists and to throw pejoratives at the people of West End but they have a point.

This is not what they signed up for.

Are they selfish to say no more? Probably, but they have a right to say no. The problem is that too few people are listening and talking about this.

We do get to vote councils and governments in and out on consequential issues like this but it would be reasonable to say that none of the political parties have a viable solution – so the debate never gets off the ground.

A lot of what Planning Minister Steven Miles says about this is right and logical. We have to plan to make sure we get what we want and density in some areas is the key to surviving this.

I get all that, but what are we losing? Often it’s the intangibles or things that an older generation can get whimsical about, like backyard cricket or walking to school and knowing everyone in your street or having a paddock down the road that still has kangaroos.

But it is also very tangible when we see a housing crisis and rents skyrocketing and infrastructure that can’t cope and travel times blowing out and hospitals with queues of ambulance vehicles outside waiting to get in.

If you look around Brisbane the tin and timber homes provide an important dash of character. Housing and suburban design of a city reflect and shape the character of the place and say something about the people who live in it.

So what do the outer suburbs or the dense inner city say about the people who live there? What are we consigning them to? Is it the Queensland or Australia that we want?

No one seems to be talking about it and it’s time we did.