On 23 August, The Sydney Morning Herald published an article by journalist Paul Sheehan under the headline "The Yarra Monster is killing us". The article quoted Professor Bob Birrell, Monash University demographer, as describing Melbourne as a "parasite economy".
Professor Birrell was further quoted as saying "’Increasingly, the fiscal dividend from Australia’s mineral boom is having to be distributed to Victoria to pay for the needs of Melbourne’s population boom. That’s why the Victorian Premier, John Brumby, is constantly having to go cap-in-hand to the federal government for assistance.”
The full text of Paul Sheehan’s aricle can be viewed here.