Land push behind ethnic conflict

IT HAS become almost a ritual in itself. A religious community proposes building a place of worship or learning, and encounters the wrath of thousands of residents.

There are furious mass meetings, petitions, legal challenges and sometimes even violence. On the face of it, Sydney looks like a city riven by ethnic and cultural hostility.

But the protests may be a sign of something much more basic - a competition between recent immigrants and Anglo-Celtic Australians for the dwindling amounts of cheap land. A report from the economic forecaster BIS Schrapnel, compiled late last week, found that "high land costs and affordability remain a challenge for the new housing market", especially in Sydney. read more