“Every day, mainstream Australians are feeling the hip pocket pain of being in a per capita recession, coupled with the federal government’s addiction to economic growth driven solely by out-of-control migration, which is making it worse,” said Dr Kevin You, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today, the IPA released new research which analyses monthly migration levels from the election of the Hawke Government in March 1983 to today. The research establishes that even with potentially six months to go in this parliamentary term: (charts over page)
- The current government has already overseen a record migration intake of 1.15 million, which is 62 per cent higher than the previous record set during the first Rudd-Gillard term of government.
- The current federal government has brought in more migrants in just 27 months than both the Hawke and Keating governments, which combined ran for 156 months – more than five times the length of the current government.
- The average monthly net overseas migration intake under Hawke-Keating was 6,646 compared with 42,710 of the current government.
“The Albanese government is a pale imitation of the Hawke-Keating years. It is clear it has no plan for real economic reform or growth, other than bringing in record amounts of migrants,” said Dr You.
“The federal government’s lazy, migration-driven growth agenda means that while the overall size of the economic pie may be growing, it is driving living standards down and leaving Australians with an even smaller slice.”
“Migration has and will continue to play a critical role in Australia’s story. However, the current unplanned, record migration intake is placing immense pressure on housing and infrastructure, has not solved our worker shortage crisis, and is leaving Australians worse off,” said Dr You.
At present, approximately 31 per cent of Australia’s population was born overseas, increasing from approximately 22 per cent in 1983. By comparison, today, 29 per cent of New Zealand’s population is foreign-born, followed by Canada (at 21 per cent), the US (at 15 per cent), and the UK (at 14 per cent).
“The current federal government is setting Australia up for economic and social failure, bringing in more migrants without any plan for how to provide the critical social services required to accommodate such a large intake,” said Dr You.
“Australia has and always will be a welcoming country, we have a rich multi-ethnic and multi-racial culture, but unsustainably increasing migration is not in the interest of a majority of Australians, including those who recently migrated here themselves.”
To download the IPA’s research click here.
