Elon Musk Sparks Debate After Calling Australians An Endangered Species Over Fertility Decline

Elon Musk ignited a fresh debate about population trends in Australia after reacting to figures showing a continued decline in Australia’s fertility rate.

“Deals of the Week 12:18PM Friday, April 24th, 2026 Lifestyle Parenting Babies ‘Endangered species’: Elon Musk’s wild claim about Aussies Elon Musk has angered after making a “cooked” comment about Aussies, with many slamming the billionaire for being “out of touch””

News.au

The tech billionaire’s remark, calling Australians “an endangered species,” spread quickly on social media and triggered “a wave of criticism,” according to The Times of India.

The Times of India

In the same discussion, The Times of India said Musk posted on X that “Australians are becoming an endangered species,” and that the wording “quickly spread across social media.”

Women's Agenda also quoted Musk’s line as “Australians are becoming an endangered species.”

News.au likewise reported that Musk claimed Aussies are an “endangered species,” describing it as a “cooked” assessment of the nation’s future.

The controversy moved beyond the initial online reaction, with The Times of India describing the debate as shifting “into a broader conversation about the cost of living, family planning, and long-term population stability.”

Across the coverage, the core dispute centered on whether Musk’s phrasing matched the data and what the decline meant for Australia’s future.

The reporting tied Musk’s comment to specific fertility-rate benchmarks and comparisons.

The Times of India said the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports Australia’s fertility rate is “around 1.48 births per woman,” and that the figure has “been sliding for years.”

Women's Agenda

It added that the rate is “below the 2.1 level,” which it described as the replacement level where a population sustains itself “without migration.”

The Times of India also said the United States is “not far ahead, sitting near 1.5 births per woman, according to recent estimates,” and noted that “Many European nations show similar or even lower levels.”

News.au similarly stated that the US rate “currently sits around 1.5 births per woman” and that Australia’s rate is “far below the 2.1 replacement level required for a population to sustain itself.”

Women's Agenda echoed the same fertility framing, saying Australia’s “fertility rate has dropped to around 1.48 births per woman, well below the replacement level of 2.1,” and that “America isn’t far ahead.”

In the same broader framing, News.au extended the comparison to other countries, saying South Korea is at “0.7 births per woman” and Japan has “around 1.3.”

Several outlets connected the fertility decline to economic pressures, especially housing and household costs.

““Australians are becoming an endangered species”

Women's Agenda

The Times of India said “Cost of living comes up again and again,” pointing to “Housing prices” being “high in major Australian cities,” with “Rent is rising” and “Childcare costs are also a major pressure point for young families.”

It also cited “Groceries and general living expenses” adding to “the strain,” and said “Some researchers suggest people are also delaying marriage and children due to career focus and lifestyle changes.”

Women's Agenda made a more direct argument that the birthrate isn’t rising because “The birthrate isn’t rising for a reason,” and it framed the decision as rational in the face of affordability.

It said “Entry-level house repayments now consume nearly 49 percent of a couple’s income,” and claimed that “homeownership for those aged 25-34 has dropped from 61 per cent to around 43 per cent.”

The same piece described childcare as “still astronomical,” and listed additional rising costs including “groceries, insurance, schooling, and let’s not forget petrol, are all rising faster than wages.”

News.au reflected the online backlash with user comments that tied the decline to affordability, including “Maybe people just can’t afford kids anymore” and “Cost of living and housing are straight up murdering the birthrate everywhere, not just Australia.”

Beyond economics, Women's Agenda argued that cultural and gender-related factors were shaping decisions about having children, and it criticized Musk’s framing as missing “something deeper and far more uncomfortable.”

The piece said “Women aren’t confused about whether to have children, they’re making a rational decision not to,” and it argued that “the personal decisions being made” were “wholly understandable.”

Women's Agenda

It also asserted that “the manosphere has unearthed the worst of male impulses,” and said young men were “blaming women for their hardship en masse.”

Women's Agenda cited a government response, saying “The Victorian government deemed it such a risk to women’s safety that they created an entire ministry a fortnight ago to combat it.”

The article further described the experience of parenting in a hostile climate, writing, “There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about how I’ll navigate this with both my son and daughter in future years.”

It also broadened the context to global instability, listing “ongoing geopolitical conflict, war famine, poverty, rampant and unregulated AI,” and saying “Don’t even start me on climate change.”

News.au’s comment section included gendered claims as well, including “Let’s be honest: birthrates are falling because many women don’t see men today as suitable partners or fathers,” and another comment stating, “I’m telling you this is because women don’t like men anymore.”

The coverage framed the immediate aftermath as an ongoing public argument about responsibility, affordability, and policy.

“Elon Musk has stirred up fresh debate after making a blunt comment about Australia’s future population trends”

The Times of India

The Times of India said Musk’s comment “triggered a mixed response online,” with some users calling the language “dramatic” and others saying it “ignored context,” while it also reported that “the discussion has now moved beyond social media noise and into a broader conversation about the cost of living, family planning, and long-term population stability.”

The Times of India

News.au described how “Thousands took to the comment section to slam the tech billionaire for being ‘out of touch’,” and it included multiple user reactions that explicitly linked the decline to wealth inequality and affordability, such as “It’s sad but wealth inequality has caused this. It’s too expensive to have kids,” and “Gotta make having kids actually affordable again or we’re cooked.”

The Times of India also said Musk had “repeatedly warned that low birth rates could shape economic and social systems in the future,” and it described his comment as part of a longer pattern of warnings.

Women's Agenda, meanwhile, argued that the “endangered species” label was the wrong focus and insisted, “If men like Musk started looking not just at the decline itself but what the decline is telling us, in countries like Australia and the US, we’d be on a better path.”

It also suggested that Musk’s wealth could be used differently, writing, “we likely wouldn’t have a decline at all.”

In the same News.au piece, the debate even expanded to international comparisons and policy ideas, referencing that “one local government in Kochi, Japan, is actually paying people to date,” with officials offering “up to $125” to residents aged “20–39” to use certified dating apps.