Immigration policy is always relaxed and tight, hanging the hearts of friends who are emigrating. Not long ago, Australia's interior minister, Peter Dutton, proposed a two-week-a-year cut in immigration quotas a year, and the sky seemed to be dimmed. One of the big reasons why the hardline interior minister has always wanted to cut immigration is his conviction that immigration is a burden on Australian society, and that immigrants are not only robbing local jobs but also shorting up Australia's welfare!
However, according to the latest survey report, skilled immigrants from Australia have not become a burden on Australian society, but are constantly creating wealth for Australian society! The influx of skilled immigrants has not affected the employment of the local people!
An analysis, prepared jointly by the Treasury and the Interior Department, was formally submitted to the federal government, warning that cutting the current one hundred and ninety thousand immigration quota would cost a huge budget, slow economic growth and undermine people's living standards.
The inclusion of immigrants in fiscal year 2014 and 15 alone will result in a $10 billion budget increase for Australia over the next five years. If the current number of immigrants is not maintained, the growth of Australia's economy will be greatly slowed down. It has a far-reaching impact on the social economy.
A report released Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund also showed that Australia's immigration plan will effectively mitigate the impact of an ageing population on GDP growth in the light of the current situation. Between 2020 and 2050, new immigrants will increase Australia's GDP by 1% a year. The report also warned that unless Australia can continue to attract existing immigration, it will put Australia's economic growth into a bottleneck. If we do not continue to accept new immigrants, Australia's labour force will shrink from 2020!
Big cities such as Sydney and Melbourne must rely on migrants to cope with declining birth rates and ageing populations. "immigrants of working age have the skills to contribute to the Australian economy. This has led to higher labour force participation rates and potential productivity gains. "
"this in turn increases Australia's per capita GDP and has a positive impact on living standards," the report found.
Australia's finance minister, Mr Morrison, said the analysis provided "a clear evidence basis for the government to set up immigration policies in support of our interests". Morrison also hinted that the government would focus on infrastructure in the May Budget to ease commuting difficulties caused by traffic jams among residents living in the suburbs.
"the report not only demonstrates the economic value of Australia's immigration programs, but also reinforces the government's continued focus on planning and managing the impact of growth, particularly through our record investment in public infrastructure." He said。
The report also acknowledges that the influx of migrants has created a rapid increase in Australia's population and poses a number of challenges, including "congestion, environmental pressure and increased demand in key markets such as housing." But the report warned: "these pressures are not caused by immigration, but by the growing population, especially if policies and planning do not keep pace with urban development."
These problems must be properly addressed if Australia is to fully enjoy the economic benefits of population growth.
Skilled immigrants provide strong support for Australia's economy, as most of them are working-age people, according to documents from the Treasury and Home Affairs.
"in addition to providing economic growth dividends, immigrants have also improved the federal fiscal situation because they generate far more tax revenues than they receive from social benefits or other government support," the report found.
The 60-page report also said: "before 2016, without immigration, even if all other conditions are the same, employment not only failed to meet the target of 1.4 percent increase, compared with 2000, down 2.1 percent."
Skilled migrants are the focus of Australia's modern immigration program, with significantly higher incomes and "migration reflecting the ability of technology to boost the economy," the report said.
"this is not to say that immigrants earn more from the same work than non-immigrants, but that on average they are more likely to work in skilled jobs."
The 2016 Productivity Council report concluded that, in general, new immigrants had little impact on the wages, employment and participation rates of the existing workforce. "but the influx of less qualified migrants could hurt the domestic market by driving down wages for local workers," the commission said.
According to Australian media, the Treasury has a little-known budget rule that requires ministers to provide additional income to offset losses from the recession due to reduced annual immigration intake.
In addition, Sally McManus, president of the Australian General Union of Trade Union (ACTU), said the federal government should consider reducing the number of people coming to Australia on temporary work visas rather than cutting the number of permanent immigrants.
McManus said a distinction must be made between permanent immigrants and those on temporary work visas.
She thinks there were very few foreigners on temporary work visas 20 years ago, but now there are about 1 million! Compared to the one hundred and ninety thousand immigration quota per year, temporary work visas are the problem!
The report also noted that immigrants have created 65 percent of new jobs over the past five years and that without the contribution of migrants, the Albert administration's 2013 goal of creating 1 million jobs would not have been achieved at all.
The federal election will be held in May next year, so it is reasonable to doubt that the Peter Dutton's main push to cut immigration is politically motivated. In a few days' reports, we mentioned that the current one hundred and ninety thousand PR quota, the exact amount to be issued, is all up to the Ministry of the Interior. While Peter Dutton clamors to cut immigration, at the expense of using New Zealanders to squeeze out Asian skilled immigrants, the other insists on picking up white South African farmers! The motive is suspicious.
The report uses very specific data to carefully quantify the contribution of migrants to Australia's economy! It is hoped that the official report released today will silence the mouths of some short-sighted politicians.