The natural increase in
population – the number of births minus the number of deaths – was over 150,000
for the eighth year in a row, again making a nonsense of claims that without
migration Australia's population would stop growing.
Net overseas migration
was over 212,000. This is consistent with the average for this decade so far,
which is nearly 50,000 higher than the average of 165,000 during the previous
decade, and two and a half times the 80,000 average of the 1990s.
There is no precedent
for Australia running such a migration program at a time of 6 per cent plus
unemployment. It is a certain recipe for rising unemployment, long-term
unemployment and job insecurity, with all the personal misery and social
problems which arise from that.
Rapid population growth
also leads to wildlife habitat destruction, increasing carbon emissions, rising
cost of living, and makes it harder to balance the books. It is a short-sighted
and greedy drive for profit from the big end of town which prejudices the
future of our young people.
Mr T
ReplyDelete1. Our efrtility has been below replacment for over 40 years and yes, while we still grow as net natural growth, that is about to change as the unprecendented growth in actual deaths as the boomers depart the home planet. All projections show our natual growth declining significantly as the baby boom, 80 years later turns into a death bust. Natual growth may drop to zero or even negative.
2. No use comparing our NOM to last decade as 2006, the ABS methodology changed and we now count temp visa holders more than we did before. Permanent migration are the actual numbers you need to know, not temps.
So, I agree with you, population growth should be reduced and will as a result of our falling natural growth. Our NOM will not double or treble to compensate and the pig in the snake, does eventually get shat out.... then stable population is most likely given our fertility rates history.
Our population growth is not open to democratic debate, or criticism. Other political policies can be debated, and moderated by public opinion, but when it comes to our immigration rate and policies, it's a closed book! It's simply considered "inevitable" and factual, as if it were organic and evolutionary!
ReplyDeleteWe live in a modern democracy, and population growth has huge implications for our living and working lives, and poses incredible challenges for future generations.
There needs to be some transparency and justification, and the attention on the "stop the boats" has been used to hide the masses arriving on our shores each day!
There's a lot of incoherent policies and contradictions coming from Federal politicians. Now new Social Services minister Scott Morrison has the task of drastically trimming our welfare budget, and will struggle to keep abreast with population growth and increasing demands. There is a diminishing pool of new jobs, and housing services for the vulnerable will be slashed. As a former Immigration Minister, surely Morrison is aware of the inconsistency of our high skilled immigration, the large numbers filling our job queues, and our unemployment crisis? ABS reports that unemployment among skilled migrants is up to 30% higher than the rest of the population! Our failing, and false, economic model based on "growth", when everything else is declining and failing to keep up, is surely adding to our economic woes. We need a good dose of reality, and fresh thinking in Parliament House. Maybe the air is stuffy, or they don't get outside enough into the real world. Kelvin Thomson is the only clear-thinking politician around!
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