A bidding war is sounding out in the offices of politicians across the nation, but it’s not the highest bidder who seems most likely to take the prize of public approval.
Amid a bleak and worrisome shortage of housing, expensive groceries and soaring bills, the current Australian political climate is abuzz with what to do about migration. Australia appears to have taken on more new people than it can sustain.
Cumberland City Councillor Steve Christou has joined a growing chorus of politicians who are suggesting migrant numbers into the nation go lower- and lower.
On May 14, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced Labor was going to cut back on migration, following a record intake of 528,000 migrants from 2022-23.
That figure was forecast to drop to 395,000 in the 2023-24 period, before falling further to 260,000 in 2024-25.
Migration would then be capped at 185,000 people a year, according to Labor, with most places being afforded to skilled labourers.
In his budget reply speech on May 16 evening, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would go even lower, dropping the annual intake of migrants to 140,000.
“Under this prime minister, the great Australian dream of home ownership has turned into a nightmare,” Mr. Dutton told Parliament.
“Even finding somewhere to rent is near impossible.”
Mr Christou doesn’t believe the Coalition has gone far enough.
“The Coalition’s plan to slash migration by 25 percent does nothing to halt the cost-of-living crisis with people struggling to pay the mortgage, rent, bills and put food on the table to feed their children,” Cr. Christou wrote on social media platform X.
“Housing and job shortages are real.
“A temporary halt on migration is needed until Australia’s infrastructure can catch up to current demands.”
Australian’s migrant population of 7.6 million has been expanding.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows the country gained just over half a million new people from 2022-23, with migrant levels increasing 73 percent post-pandemic.
At the same time, migrant departures decreased by 2 percent.
ABS data also shows an ever-soaring annual rent inflation, growing from the start of 2021 and peaking at more than 6 percent in 2022.
Rental vacancy rates have been in decline since 2021.
Labor had previously championed the merits of a “Big Australia,” a forecast for 1.5 million new migrants over five years, while promising just 30,000 new homes.
The move was met with ire by Liberal Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan, who accused the government of having no plan for where migrants would live or how to deal with the impact on government services.
The strategy is driven by the financial boon that comes with importing more people into the country.
The theory being that a “vast consumer base” would tap into a worldwide market and that a tax base of more than 100 million people would stave off the threat of literal foreign invasion.
Domestic population growth would have worked the same way, but Australia’s fertility rate has plummeted to a near-record low, with most Australians expected to have just 1.6 children on average in the coming years.
It presents a unique problem for Australia’s government—to expand and wield more power on a global stage while everyday people struggle to pay for rent and food in the interim, or to take a slower, more measured approach with practical steps that ensure fewer people are left without.
Labor says it has the balance right.
“I want Australians to know that despite everything coming at us, we are among the best placed economies to manage these uncertainties and maximise our opportunities,” Mr. Chalmers said on Budget night.
“We have an envied combination of moderating inflation, record new jobs, near‑record participation, real wages growth, the lowest‑ever gender pay gap, and expanding business investment.”
Only time, and voters, will tell.
