Why do we need immigration AT ALL?
OK, discounting refugees, a humanitarian obligation, why exactly do we need to grow our population?
More unemployed than jobs, housing shortages, environmental destruction, water disappearing, all would seem to mitigate against further growth in the numbers, yet it’s a Gov’ mantra.
I’ve always felt that the drive came from the business sector, looking for ever-increasing profits. More people meant more unemployed, which meant lower wages, bigger consumer base etc, yet we have clearly seen where that leads now.
I feel that a pause is warranted, a gathering of ourselves, a chance to solve some problems before drowning in them. Give the various groups already here time to assimilate, before we end up like Fiji or Sri Lanka, fighting the in-comers attempts to take over.
We don’t need ghettos, cultural separatism, religious and racial conflict, all results of our failure to defend our own identity as a nation, and giving in to the Idealists who insist that everyone will always be a good citizen if we bring them here and support them, a clear fallacy, events speak for themselves.
So, I ask again, how does it serve us

Immigration does not 'serve us'. It costs us. There is no need for immigration at all, Maximillion.

you make a fair point.

Although an immigrant myself I was follwoing a siple strategy of moving from one densely populated and resource depleted island (Britain) to a less densely populated, resource rich Island (Australia).

However, now that I am here, I would agree with your question..

Why do we need more folk?

I am not sure we do.. unless one is a property developer, builder or government, who need people to: buy houses and make profits, earn wages by building said houses or generating an ever increasing tax base from.

There are two schools of thought on this topic and unfortunately the "population growth proponents" seem to be more vocal than the "population conservatives"...

Personally, I am a "population conservative".. but would apply that reasoning on a world wide scale and not just limit myself to Aus.

Makesamillion.It all depends upon the numbers we import and how well they intergrate.Language above all else is the key.Without a common language there will be chaos and violence.

The economic imperative of having cheap labor at all costs,could be a serious negative.

Immigration is needed primarily for economic reasons and not just for business profits but to provide enough income to fund the rest of us in our later years. The age profile of the country is rising rapidly and there will soon be too many retirees to support with the existing population growth.

Statistically, for every four people who immigrate into this country, one person leaves permanently (75% of these being former immigrants) so it flows both ways.

It's not always a matter of providing "cheap labour" because there is usually skills based factors involved in the application for entry.

If you're against immigration for resource-based reasons then you can't argue the option of increasing our local birth rate to make up the declining numbers because it's the same thing - only slower.

Dear Max,

With a recession casting its shadow on
economic prospects around the globe, the
immigration debate was going to surface
sooner or later and heat up.

As the Australian Immigration Minister said
on Monday (according to Reuters), "We don't
want people coming in who are going to compete
with Australians for limited jobs." He then
annouced a 14% cut in the numbers of immigrants
to be allowed in this fiscal year. The cuts only
affect skilled mirgants. Family re-unification and
humanitarian immigration flows were left untouched.

You ask whether Australia needs immigration at all?
That's an issue that the Government needs to
seriously assess.

One of our major problems in
this country is our shortage of water.
The government needs to assess the
size of the population that the country
can realistically sustain.

We've signed treaties so we're legally
obliged to take in a certain number of refugees -
but we need to look at what the country
can manage to sustain - before any future intakes
of immigrants.