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Whenever the idea of Australia cutting immigration further is suggested, there is a clear response from Labor and the Coalition.
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Australia → publish → Labor
We can't go that far - we need migrants to fill jobs.
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migrants → go → jobs
Immigration minister Tony Burke did it again, recently, at the National Press Club.
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Burke → do → Club
As I'll explain, it assumes that the only workers who matter are the ones who haven’t arrived yet.
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who → explain → ?
Critics of One Nation’s plan to return the number of temporary migrants to pre-Covid levels shriek it will cause skills shortages and leave us vulnerable to an ageing population.
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it → return → population
This intellectual laziness infects our entire immigration debate.
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laziness → infect → debate
Either we maintain extraordinarily high migration, or our hospitals and building sites will grind to a complete halt.
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hospitals → maintain → halt
Australia unquestionably needs ongoing skilled migration.
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Australia → need → migration
And no serious government will shut the door on specialised doctors or engineers.
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government → shut → doctors
But pretending that every new arrival in Australia solves a labour shortage ignores the basic economic reality: migrants don’t just supply labour, they also create demand for it.
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they → pretend → it
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the National Press Club on September 17 that the Albanese government will reduce the net migration rate with an overhaul of working holiday visas and restrictions on temporary migrants.
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government → tell → migrants
But he resiled from making deep cuts to Australia's migration rate
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he → resile → rate
A Spanish hospitality student became the face of Tony Burke's changes when she spoke to the Daily Mail of her devastation about the Albanese government's tweaks earlier this month.
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she → become → tweaks
Breaking down in tears, she said Burke's changes - slashing access to extended working holiday visas - could prevent her remaining in Australia
A migrant nurse staffs a hospital, sure.
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nurse → break → hospital
But they also need a doctor, a home and infrastructure to match.
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they → need → doctor
Two decades of mass migration to Australia haven't fixed our skills shortages.
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decades → fix → shortages
That's because rapid population growth creates additional demand alongside additional labour.
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growth → create → labour
If adding people were a magic economic cure, Australia would’ve solved this problem years ago.
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Australia → add → problem
The claim that mass immigration fixes an ageing population is just as hollow.
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immigration → fix → population
At best, it kicks the can down the road.
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it → kick → road
Migrants get old too.
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Migrants → get → ?
Each intake grows older, demanding an even larger intake behind it just to keep the treadmill spinning.
Using fresh batches of migrants to lower the median age is a demographic Ponzi scheme.
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Using → grow → age
Instead of asking how many people we can import, politicians should ask themselves why they are ignoring the millions of workers already here.
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they → ask → workers
In New Zealand, it’s more than 26 per cent.
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it → ’ → Zealand
There is another way to increase the workforce without mass migration, writes Peter van Onselen - it's using the workers the country already has, but deters from paid employment: Australians over 65
One important reason is that New Zealand doesn’t punish its seniors for working.
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Zealand → be → seniors
New Zealanders can keep working after 65 without having their pensions clawed back.
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pensions → keep → 65
Australia does the exact opposite.
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Australia → do → opposite
We claim we want more older workers, then financially punish them for remaining in the workforce.
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we → claim → workforce
After the available Work Bonus and income-free allowances are exhausted, the pension is clawed back by 50 cents for every additional dollar earned, and that is before ordinary income taxes whittle wages away even further.
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taxes → exhaust → wages
It’s a big deterrence tax on work for older Australians.
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It → ’ → Australians
A pensioner who gives up their leisure to help an employer fill a vacancy is financially penalised for the privilege well beyond normal tax rates.
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employer → give → rates
And politicians wonder why so many stay home?
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many → wonder → ?
MacroBusiness chief economist Leith van Onselen has done the arithmetic: ‘Australia would gain just over 500,000 workers if its 65-and-over labour force participation rate matched New Zealand’s,’ he argues.
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he → do → Zealand
That’s more than three per cent of our current workforce, a perfect way to fill existing gaps without super-charging migration numbers, which as mentioned, cause other issues.
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which → ’ → issues
Health, workplace flexibility, retirement savings and personal preferences also influence whether older Australians choose to continue working.
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Australians → influence → ?
But even if Australia is only able to entice a fraction (say 20 per cent) of the over 65-year-olds New Zealand has back into the workforce, that’s around 100,000 extra workers to fill gaps.
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that → entice → gaps
‘These people already live in Australia’, Leith points out.
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Leith → live → Australia
They increase labour supply without producing a corresponding population driven demand shock.
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They → increase → shock
The fix is glaringly obvious: exempt employment earnings from the pension income test.
Let pensioners pay ordinary income tax on their combined income like everyone else.
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pensioners → exempt → everyone
It would preserve the safety net while eliminating the penalty for working, giving Australia more workers in industries where we need them.
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we → preserve → them
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
