The statement that Australia is heading towards recording its biggest drop in immigration numbers in 90 years is seriously misleading.
It could give the impression that Australia’s runaway population growth is coming under control. Nothing could be further from the truth. Macroplan’s approach to the immigration issue is like that of a man who used to eat 3 hamburgers a week, but last week ate 11, going to his doctor expecting praise for only eating 8!
The figures provided by Macroplan Australia say that migration numbers fell from 341,000 to 230,000 in the 12 months to July 31. The fact is that net overseas migration of 230,000 remains incredibly high. It is much higher than every other year in Australia’s history.
If continued, it would cause Australia’s population to be much higher by 2050 than even the Treasury projections of 36 million by 2050. These projections are based on net overseas migration each year of 180,000, and 70% of Australians don’t agree that Australia should rise to 36 million by 2050. They think that number is too high. During the election campaign the Liberal Party proposed to cut net migration to 170,000. This would not make much difference to the outcome – it would give us 35 million, rather than 36 million, by 2050.
My own view is that we should cut net overseas migration to 70,000, in line with the figures we used to have in numerous years of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. This would stabilise Australia’s population by 2050 at 26 million, and would be much better for Australia’s environment.
Macroplan’s claim that a cut in immigration would drop our standard of living is nonsense. Runaway population growth puts pressure on housing prices, making housing unaffordable. It is also driving electricity, gas, water and food prices upwards, as well as Council rates. People are not better off as a result of the rapid increases in migration of the past 5 years, they are financially worse off.
KELVIN THOMSON MP
Federal Member for Wills
Spoken with truth and courage!
ReplyDeleteAny one who doubts the truth spoke by Kelvin might do well to ask themselves a simple question: Why, in spite of enormous scientific and technical advances, do we have more poverty today than there were people in existence one hundred years ago?
Paul Colinvaux (Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare) demonstrated the answer in 1978. Ecology's first social law should be written "All poverty is caused by continued population growth".
Is there any way of knowing on a monthly basis how many people come to Australia so that we can assess the migration intake performance of the Gillard Govt.?
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