No. The non-desert land per capita in Australia is more than twice that in the US.
Its not just desert, it about water as well. If I not mistaken large parts of Australia had drought in the last couple of years.
So is California. And Texas.
It is, and yet we still only really live in three cities (150km in length along a 26000km long coastline)
Three cities (presumably Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane) is a weird way to describe Australia's population distribution. Perth is basically the same size as Brisbane. "We still only really live in two/four/five cities" all would be more accurate.