Migrants saved Australia from Financial Crisis

[Guest The Pom Queen]

MELBOURNE, Australia — Some members of Australia’s governing Liberal Party want voters to believe immigrants are bad for the economy, draining resources and causing wages to stagnate. But a newly published report, written by the same conservative government, reveals the opposite — immigration is a critical engine of the country’s growth.

The report, first published on Tuesday by Fairfax Media after journalists submitted multiple Freedom of Information requests, concluded that reducing immigration would cost the national budget billions of dollars and reduce job growth.

One of every two Australians is an immigrant, or the child of an immigrant. About a quarter of Australia’s population is foreign born, roughly twice the rate of the United States.

But immigration is a hotly contested issue, especially as Australia’s cities have been growing rapidly without the infrastructure to match, and the far-right contingent of the Liberal Party has been pushing to reduce immigration levels by tens of thousands of immigrants per year.

It’s a cause championed by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Peter Dutton, the immigration minister, who has said he hopes to become prime minister. And while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has generally resisted, his poll numbers are weak and his government is now being accused of pandering to the anti-immigration mood of his party’s fringes in a populist appeal to his conservative base.

 

Here are the four key takeaways from the report.

Immigrants contribute more than they consume

Immigrants help increase the country’s overall gross domestic product, but they also are responsible for increasing the per capita G.D.P.

That is to say, immigrants have a net positive impact on the Australian economy because they typically contribute more in tax revenue than the amount they consume in government services.

Younger migrants mean younger workers

Seventy percent of migrants to Australia are skilled and of working age, a crucial antidote to the country’s aging population.

“By slowing the aging of the population, migration allows the economy and society time to adjust,” the report said.

Moreover, the document explains, higher levels of migration are also associated with less spending per person on social services like health care and education.

Immigrants do not depress wages

Mr. Abbott said early this year that limiting immigration was necessary because of the country’s “stagnant wages.”

The report, however, found that neither wages nor the unemployment rate was affected by migration.

“This is likely explained by the fact that migrants are generally seen as complements to the Australian-born labor force,” the document said.

 

Migrants helped Australia avoid the 2008 financial crisis

Australia has had 26 consecutive years of economic growth, and avoided the financial crisis that rattled so many of the world’s economies in 2008.

“There is considerable evidence pointing to the role of migrants in sustaining or fostering strong economic growth over the longer term,” the report said.

“This suggests that migration helped the economy successfully weather the Global Financial Crisis and the slow global growth and poor economic conditions that followed.”

 

[Bulya]

27 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

MELBOURNE, Australia — Some members of Australia’s governing Liberal Party want voters to believe immigrants are bad for the economy, draining resources and causing wages to stagnate. But a newly published report, written by the same conservative government, reveals the opposite — immigration is a critical engine of the country’s growth.

The report, first published on Tuesday by Fairfax Media after journalists submitted multiple Freedom of Information requests, concluded that reducing immigration would cost the national budget billions of dollars and reduce job growth.

One of every two Australians is an immigrant, or the child of an immigrant. About a quarter of Australia’s population is foreign born, roughly twice the rate of the United States.

But immigration is a hotly contested issue, especially as Australia’s cities have been growing rapidly without the infrastructure to match, and the far-right contingent of the Liberal Party has been pushing to reduce immigration levels by tens of thousands of immigrants per year.

It’s a cause championed by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Peter Dutton, the immigration minister, who has said he hopes to become prime minister. And while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has generally resisted, his poll numbers are weak and his government is now being accused of pandering to the anti-immigration mood of his party’s fringes in a populist appeal to his conservative base.

 

Here are the four key takeaways from the report.

Immigrants contribute more than they consume

Immigrants help increase the country’s overall gross domestic product, but they also are responsible for increasing the per capita G.D.P.

That is to say, immigrants have a net positive impact on the Australian economy because they typically contribute more in tax revenue than the amount they consume in government services.

Younger migrants mean younger workers

Seventy percent of migrants to Australia are skilled and of working age, a crucial antidote to the country’s aging population.

“By slowing the aging of the population, migration allows the economy and society time to adjust,” the report said.

Moreover, the document explains, higher levels of migration are also associated with less spending per person on social services like health care and education.

Immigrants do not depress wages

Mr. Abbott said early this year that limiting immigration was necessary because of the country’s “stagnant wages.”

The report, however, found that neither wages nor the unemployment rate was affected by migration.

“This is likely explained by the fact that migrants are generally seen as complements to the Australian-born labor force,” the document said.

 

Migrants helped Australia avoid the 2008 financial crisis

Australia has had 26 consecutive years of economic growth, and avoided the financial crisis that rattled so many of the world’s economies in 2008.

“There is considerable evidence pointing to the role of migrants in sustaining or fostering strong economic growth over the longer term,” the report said.

“This suggests that migration helped the economy successfully weather the Global Financial Crisis and the slow global growth and poor economic conditions that followed.”

 

Intelligent educated folk understand this.

[Bobj]

7 hours ago, Bulya said:

Intelligent educated folk understand this.

I do, too...

And I was a jimmygrant as well.

Cheers, Bobj.

[Parley]

No one said immigration isn't beneficial.

There is still a question of how many a nation can digest.

Most immigrants have headed to Sydney and Melbourne and this has caused a huge increse in demands on services and increase in housing costs which is hurting a lot of people.

Just because something is good doesn't mean you can have an unlimited amount of it.

If our cities cannot handle the number of people added to them every year then we need a pause to catch up.

Melbourne is struggling to cope. And the CBD is a swarming mass of people every day. Not that pleasant actually.

[Parley]

Can you explain why migrants didn't save the UK or US from the Financial Crisis ?

That claim sounds a little fanciful to me as all the major countries have migrants. Why did migrants only save Australia ?

[s713]

Can you explain why migrants didn't save the UK or US from the Financial Crisis ?
That claim sounds a little fanciful to me as all the major countries have migrants. Why did migrants only save Australia ?

Migrants who move to Australia have money.

[Rallyman]

On 18/04/2018 at 05:48, Parley said:

No one said immigration isn't beneficial.

There is still a question of how many a nation can digest.

Most immigrants have headed to Sydney and Melbourne and this has caused a huge increse in demands on services and increase in housing costs which is hurting a lot of people.

Just because something is good doesn't mean you can have an unlimited amount of it.

If our cities cannot handle the number of people added to them every year then we need a pause to catch up.

Melbourne is struggling to cope. And the CBD is a swarming mass of people every day. Not that pleasant actually.

Agree , you only have to look at infrastructure it can’t cope , getting around sydney by car is a total nightmare .lived there for 5 years and went back a couple of months ago , no thanks not for me 

[Quoll]

55 minutes ago, Rallyman said:

Agree , you only have to look at infrastructure it can’t cope , getting around sydney by car is a total nightmare .lived there for 5 years and went back a couple of months ago , no thanks not for me 

I just skirted Melbourne the other day and that ringroad - phew! Just like the M25 on a bad day (along with a whole load of even worse drivers!) I remarked to the DH at the time that the M80 was vying with the M25 for the accolade of the world’s largest car park. I’ve done that road many times in the past but not for the last 7 years and it was way worse. Not been to Sydney for a couple of years but might pop up for a day if I get time next week - for curiosity and a wool shop basically!

[mext60]

On ‎18‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 02:58, Parley said:

Can you explain why migrants didn't save the UK or US from the Financial Crisis ?

That claim sounds a little fanciful to me as all the major countries have migrants. Why did migrants only save Australia ?

Because most of Australia's migrants are skilled migrants (Professionals), while in UK/ France most of the migrants were accepted under different streams and not under skilled migration.

[Parley]

20 hours ago, mext60 said:

Because most of Australia's migrants are skilled migrants (Professionals), while in UK/ France most of the migrants were accepted under different streams and not under skilled migration.

Actually it had nothing to do with that. It was the mining boom in WA.