Most Excuses for Mass Immigration Don’t Stack Up
Australia has been receiving a high number of immigrants but the reasons for this are suspect. There are various reasons put forward for this but when examined these tend to be wanting.
One claim is that immigration is necessary for economic growth and to maintain our living standards. Think back a few years to the Covid pandemic. During 2020 and 2021 immigration was restricted and went down to about net zero. People kept having babies but population growth fell to about half a percent (0.5%) a year. The economy went backwards in 2020 but in 2021 growth reached 4.9%, the highest rate for years.
From 2022 migrants began flooding in again, population was rising rapidly, but economic growth slowed down. In the following years, 2023 and 2024, immigration and population growth continued at a high rate but economic growth failed to keep up. Living standards were going backwards.
Meanwhile many Asian countries noted for their tiny immigration levels had growing economies. Even Japan, a country that has seen the population fall for over 15 years, has seen economic growth and rising living standards in recent years.
What has been growing is Australia’s foreign debt. It reached a net amount of a trillion dollars a decade ago and in 2024 grew by over 17%. This means we have to send billions overseas each year just to service the debt contributing to our fall in living standards.
It appears mass immigration is not boosting our economic performance but may actually be retarding it. And how are the migrants themselves faring?
Many migrants are well qualified and hardworking, but many others are not. Results from the last census (2021) showed that people born in Australia had an unemployment rate of 4.8% but for those born overseas the rate was 5.6%. Median weekly income for an individual born in Australia was $823 while for those born overseas it was $784. Many, especially refugees from African countries like Sudan and Somalia do much worse.
Then there is the question of our aging population and how immigration is supposed to slow this down. In 2021 the median age of people born in Australia was 34 years but for those born overseas it was 45 years. Fertility rates vary and in 2023 for those born overseas it was 1.34 but for those born in Australia it was higher at 1.69. Total fertility rates have been falling, from 1.88 in 2013, down to 1.5 in 2023. Immigration is also a factor behind the absurdly high prices of homes and the massively high levels of household debt, things which would put people off getting married or having children. Immigration is raising the average age in this country rather than lowering it.
Crime rates are also sensitive to immigration levels. In 2021 with net zero immigration the homicide rate (murders and manslaughters) was down to 0.9 per 100,000 of population. The following years saw a rise in homicides as the immigration floodgates opened. Overall imprisonment rates tend to be lower for the overseas born when compared to the Australian born. This however has more to do with the high rate of Aboriginal incarceration than law abiding immigrants. Furthermore, certain migrant nationalities, such as Sudanese, Somalis, Kenyans, Tongans and Samoans, are actually more likely to be in jail than Australians.
Once it was claimed that immigration was needed to fill up the vast underpopulated areas of Australia. This was a silly idea to start with but nowadays remote and underpopulated areas of Australia are actually losing population.
It’s pretty obvious that mass immigration is causing problems for Australia and most Australians. We should return to net zero migration.
Roger H.