Is Australian industry dependent on migration?
It is generally accepted that Australia’s strong economy is driven largely by immigration but now Prime Minister Julia Gillard is questioning that assumption in a move that has angered business leaders.
Speaking yesterday at the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, the Australian Prime Minister questioned whether cities such as Sydney and the Queensland state have not already reached their population limits. She further stated that Australian policies followed since the end of the Second World War would be reviewed to consider their relevancy today.
The major policy at the end of World War II was to increase the population of Australian through immigration, largely from Europe and the UK in particular.
But the Prime Minister’s sentiments have angered business leaders who accuse her of using the fear of asylum seekers to influence immigration policy. The chairman of the Australian Bank, Mr Michael Chaney, accused both parties of failing to engage in the population debate sensibly.
“The fact is we need a growing population to fill jobs in our growing economy, and you’d have hoped for a bipartisan approach on reasonable population growth.” He said yesterday in response to the Prime Minister’s statements. “The paranoia over asylum-seekers is being allowed to influence the population debate and it’s not getting any better in an election.”
However whilst the Prime Minister has previously stated that Australia would never turn its back on newcomers, she has questioned the wisdom of populating places such as Sydney to overcrowding point. “Surely it is time for governments to ask this question: Can we really ask western Sydney to keep absorbing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people without regard for the key issue of quality of life?” she stated.
She also said that the government had to look carefully as its sustainability plans as a growing population demands more and more resources from an already overstretched country.
However business leaders have brushed Ms Gillard’s concerns to one side, with Telstra board member Geoffrey Cousins even stating that a bigger Australia was an inevitable path that Australia would be forced to take.
What do you think? Is Australia dependent on immigration for economic growth? Can Australia sustain itself and a growing population? Or are businesses simply wishing to capitalise on a large population without regards for the scant resources of that country? Let us know what you think by filling in the comments box below.
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