On 16 July, the Institute of Public Affairs’ Deputy Executive Director Daniel Wild joined Oliver Peterson on 6PR Drive Home to discuss how unplanned record migration levels are creating housing shortages across Australia.
All media appearances posted onto the IPA website are directly related to the promotion and dissemination of IPA research
Below is a transcript of the interview.
Oliver Peterson:
Nine and a half past four, despite saying that the Albanese government would rein in record migration, new data from the Bureau of Statistics shows that it has in fact already exceeded the migration target for the last full financial year. The Albanese government promised to cut migration to 395,000, but instead more people came into Australia to the tune of 445,000. Daniel Wild is the deputy executive director at the Institute of Public Affairs. Good afternoon.
Daniel Wild:
Good day, Olly, nice to chat.
Oliver Peterson:
Surely this is a broken promise, Daniel.
Daniel Wild:
It’s looking like a broken promise, Olly. We’ve had time and time again promises from the government that they’re going to rein in migration, but it’s just not been happening. Over the past two years, we’ve had over a million migrants arrive on a net basis. Of course, we need migrants for our economic and social life, but this hasn’t been planned for. It’s the biggest surge to our population in our nation’s history.
It’s putting pressure on the schools, the roads, the hospitals, and especially the housing. Western Australians know this more than anyone else where house prices have gone up over the past 12 months by almost 20%. The median house price in Perth is now over $1 million. Rental is not much better. You’ve got a real issue where the planning hasn’t been put in place and mainstream Australians on the ground are paying the price.
Oliver Peterson:
The prime minister promised that he would cut migration. In fact, that was the pledge, wasn’t it, that this year it was going to happen? 395 was the target. We’re at 445,000. How can they explain this, Daniel?
Daniel Wild:
I don’t know, Olly. It’s up to the government to explain how exactly they’re going to meet their commitments. One thing they have been saying that I find so puzzling is that we need a bigger migration intake in order to fill the job vacancies that we have. As you know, many small businesses are struggling to get the people they need to do the jobs. Look, that’s fair enough, but think about this. Before COVID, we had fewer migrants and lower job vacancies. After COVID, we’ve got record migration intake and higher job vacancies.
In Perth alone, job vacancies are still 60% higher than pre-COVID. Clearly, something is not working. It doesn’t add up. The migrants who are coming here are not the ones we need to do the jobs. Now clearly if we need medical professionals and highly technical expertise in engineering for example, then that’s fair enough, but the people who are coming aren’t filling the jobs and it’s causing immense economic pain for Australians.
Oliver Peterson:
You have done and the IPA has done some research here on how this affects our per capita basis. Can you explain that to us, Daniel, and what are your calculations?
Daniel Wild:
Yeah, look, this is a really critical point, Olly. As you know, if you bring in more people into our nation, our economy will get bigger. The pie will get bigger, but the slice of the pie that everybody is getting is getting smaller. What we found is that we’ve had five consecutive quarters of negative per capita economic growth. That is the longest decline on record and the records go back to 1972.
You’ve got to go all the way back to before Gough Whitlam to see a decline of this magnitude. The issue here, Olly, is that we haven’t had the proper planning in place, as I mentioned, all of the pressure on our schools and the infrastructure that’s there. Of course, we want to have an economy that can take in the migrants, but what we’re seeing is mass migration is making Australians poorer and this government’s answer is just to bring in even more.
Oliver Peterson:
Daniel, appreciate your time as always. Thank you very much.
Daniel Wild:
My pleasure, thanks, Olly.
Oliver Peterson:
That’s Daniel Wild. He’s the deputy executive director at the Institute of Public Affairs. 133 882 if you would like to join the conversation this afternoon, this is going to put a lot more pressure on the already stretched rental and housing markets, so much pressure in fact that one Perth property expert is predicting that there is some very sobering news. The housing crisis is going to last for another decade because there’s just not enough, is there, being done at the moment by our governments to address the housing crisis?
