Migration

The Great Regionalisation Distraction:
Sending migrants to the regions no solution to population growth, says SPA

Sending new migrants to the regions, as the new Population Minister, Alan Tudge, suggests is just ‘tinkering around the edges’ in dealing with Australia’s population growth problems, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA).

SPA national president Sandra Kanck says current net overseas migration (NOM) is simply too large, no matter where migrants go.

World population Day was established by the UN in 1989 to highlight concerns as the planet’s population went past 5 billion.  It is now at 7.4 billion and rising by about 80 million every year, so the problems are even more intractable (despite the rate of growth declining).  Medium scenarios produced by the UN estimate the world population could be between 9 and 10 billion by 2050.

Some weeks ago SPA sent a questionnaire to six political parties asking for their policy positions re population issues. In summary, we sought to find out from each of them:

1. Their views on the optimum population for Australia and the basis for their figure;

2. Whether they recognise that there are environmental constraints to population growth and which constraints are the most significant;

3. Skilled migrant intake versus training local workers;

1. OVERVIEW OF SUBMISSION

Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) welcomes the Productivity Commission’s (the “Commission”) inquiry regarding the Migrant Intake into Australia and its related call for submissions from interested parties.[1]
In preparing its submission, SPA has considered the Terms of Reference for the inquiry and the related Issues Paper developed by the Commission. In particular, SPA notes that section 1(b) of the Terms of Reference relates to the following considerations:
1. The benefits and costs that the intake of permanent entrants can generate with respect to:
b. The income, wealth and living standards of Australian citizens, including with respect to:
i. impacts on the salaries and employment of Australian citizens, knowledge and skill transfer, productivity, foreign investment, and linkages
to global value chains
ii. cultural, social and demographic impacts
iii. agglomeration, environmental, amenity and congestion effects.
SPA’s submission responds to this aspect of the Terms of Reference and provides recommended policy considerations for Australia’s migrant intake consistent with the following SPA objectives:
· To promote policies that will lead to the stabilisation, and then to reduction, of Australia's population by encouraging low fertility and low migration.
· To promote urban and rural lifestyles and practices that are in harmony with the realities of the Australian environment, its resource base and its biodiversity.
· To advocate low immigration rates while rejecting any selection based on ethnicity.
These objectives are expressed through the enclosed responses to three associated issues identified in the Issues Paper for ease of reference. Relevant research and information is cited for consideration by the Commission.
SPA acknowledges and welcomes the positive contribution of immigrants to Australia’s diverse and rich multicultural environment. Accordingly, SPA’s recommendations for reductions in the permanent migrant intake are in no way based on establishing limitations to specific ethnic groups. It is emphasised that SPA’s recommendations are applied against the consideration of the scale permanent immigration, with respect to its impact on the size and growth rate of Australia’s population.