AC

Interesting.

I sense your frustration with a deteriorating civil life in this country which has descended into an unrecognisable rabble of madness of ideas presenting as ideological opposites.

We are living more in a societal mental asylum specialising in Schizophrenia.

If you read up on symptoms of Schizophrenia, you’ll immediately recognise our Government and it’s leaders. It’s unmistakable!

I’m afraid this is one Cukoos nest you can’t fly over!

Where it leaves the individual is floundering around in a world where we are fighting a “war of all against all”.
Particularly those with a conservative stable outlook on a past ordered and recognisable society; where this current one isn’t at all recognisable.

Dan.

Diver Dan
What sort of "stand" can one take on this issue when both sides of politics hold essentially the same position?

They may pretend to be selectively different for politically opportunist or populist reasons when it suits but in the end they both accept that immigration is an essential component of a growing economy. The concept is here to stay and only the levels are debated.

We are now seeing the effect of the recent temporary halt of immigration due to COVID - a shortage of workers (especially skilled ones) and a struggling economy. Until steps are taken to return to upskilling and training more local workers in a fair and accessible system we will always be at the mercy of importing others to fill in the gaps we have created for ourselves. Education is seen as a financial expense rather than a national investment in its own future.

I'm actually the product of two European post-WW2 refugees and on just my side of the family Australia has been "repaid" with a generation that includes a Medical Sonographer, a midwife, cyber-security expert and an environmental scientist - all "home grown" but at significant personal financial cost for each. It's far harder now to get into some areas so I'm not surprised that numbers have dropped in some disciplines.

Likewise, until wage growth is allowed to match increasing productivity consumption will continue to fall.

With a falling and ageing population eventually each aged pensioner will be supported by the taxes of just a few workers and the prediction of Australia becoming the "poor white trash of the Pacific" seems ever more likely. Remember Costello's comments about "one for mum, one for dad and one for the country?" That's what he was talking about but immigration is really their solution because our birth rate is simply too small.

immigration is an essential component of a growing economy.
rache,
Why does everything need to "grow", why not work on need & sustainability ?
With so many "educated" people all around surely there'd be some with intelligence as well who could work on a sustainability plan ?

rache.

Your quite confused on this issue.

You say gaining economic advantage of a foreign workforce translates into an immigration path to permanent citizenship as an automatic consequence.

To gain additional workers it is not necessary to offer permanency as reward. Your confused.

Saudi Arabia is a classic example of how to increase the workforce without citizenship as reward.
There are 13 million foreign workers in SA out of a total population of 34 million; IE one third of the population are temporary workers, and most of them are sponsored by employees, this is done without adding a burden to the general population.

That is the example of what Au should do. A mobile temporary workforce which caters effectively with low pay labouring employment, keeps poverty from entering the general population and becoming a burden on housing, healthcare and education primarily, but not exclusively.

The birth rate could be improved vastly if the cost of living were to be addressed, giving workers the ability to plan for a future inclusive of a family. Instead, because of the demands in couples attempting to buy into a permanently overheated housing market, exacerbated by over supply of immigrants impacting on a housing shortage, mere survival is the top priority.

A whole latest generation of our population is effectively excluded from owning stable accommodation, a prerequisite to family planning.

Dan

Indyvidual
You may not have noticed the fetish for constant growth is part of the Capitalist system. Nowadays it seems that unless a company posts ever-greater profits each year than the previous year they are seen to have "failed". I think it's ridiculous because a profit is still a profit and nothing in nature grows forever but that's how it is.

Diver Dan
I never said anything about all current immigration being a permanent path to citizenship and I'm quite aware of the Saudi system of importing labour, knowing Aussies who have worked in Riyadh. The wealth of the Saudis means they can import all workers and their citizens live off welfare but we don't have that luxury.
We import temporary foreign workers too on a much smaller scale and their current absence has been noticeable. Even temporary workers need accommodation too.

The local birth rate isn't likely to increase until workers earn enough to be able to raise a family. The rising costs of rent, real estate, education and childcare make it difficult.

It's also interesting that rents have increased because of rising interest rates but somehow they forgot to drop rents when interest rates were falling. Try blaming that on immigrants.

If you are not data literate, then you could inform yourselves on demographics and decline by looking at the OECD data, especially working age.

Australia like elsewhere passed the 'demographic sweet spot' pre Covid, hence, working age and potentially the tax base, are in decline, see OECD:

https://data.oecd.org/chart/6NUp

Solutions to support the tax base? Tax wealthy retirees more & pensioners, tax working age more, increase GST, decrease services, scrap Medicare, charge university/TAFE fees (whoops, that was done decades ago) etc.; be nice to young people and hope they help?

Or, simply continue with modest permanent skilled migration (< 0.8% population), with more significant NOM net overseas migration churn over of 'net financial budget contributors' e.g. students, backpackers etc., or cut our noses to spite our faces and go into demographic decline aka Balkan nations?