Wesfarmers Chief Executive says migration decline would be very bad news

[Cerberus1]

Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott has warned a decline in migration levels would be “very bad news” for the Australian economy leading to fewer jobs and lower wages.

Acknowledging there is currently a “backlash” running through the community over immigration levels, Mr Scott, who as the boss of Wesfarmers runs Australia’s biggest non-food retailer, said this type of backlash often occurred because governments had failed to invest in infrastructure such as housing and public services.

As debate around the nation grows over the levels of migration Australia should target and any flow on affect to the economy, housing prices and congestion in our key cities, Mr Scott strongly defended Australia’s long history of migration levels and the benefits had to the domestic economy.

“Australia has benefited from having the highest population growth of OECD nations for some time. That is, currently around 1.6 per cent v the average of 0.6 per cent,’’ Mr Scott said.

He said it was a leading factor in Australia’s extended period of uninterrupted economic growth.

“Migration has contributed to a reasonable proportion of this growth and also provided access to new skills and capabilities, additional spending and it has also contributed to the multi-cultural and diverse society that we enjoy.

“This is also one of the key factors that has led to Australia having sustained economic growth over the last 27 years.”

Mr Scott warned that a drop off in migration rates would damage that momentum and growth of the national economy and spill over to rising unemployment and a worsening standard of living, labelling any moves “bad news”.

“If this trend was to decline, this would be very bad news for Australia’s economic growth and ultimately mean fewer jobs, lower wages and being less competitive as a nation.”

However, he did concede there was a growing backlash against high migration levels, but this could be smoothed by more investment in key infrastructure projects.

“Population growth, and related to this immigration, can be a sensitive subjects. Backlash often occurs in major cities that haven’t invested enough in infrastructure, housing and public services and where bottlenecks exist. This is one of the reasons why I believe infrastructure investment is so critical for our nation – both in regional areas and our major cities.”