With the Australian population having ticked past 25 million people at about 11pm yesterday, the government is seeking to encourage new migrants to live and work outside Sydney and Melbourne.
Of the 111,000 new skilled migrants who arrived in Australia last year — the largest cohort of permanent arrivals — 87 percent settled in the two biggest cities.
Australian Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge was yesterday due to argue in a speech for a greater geographic spread of migration, to relieve pressure on housing and infrastructure.
Photo: EPA
“If the population was distributed more evenly, there would not be the congestion pressures that we have today in Melbourne and Sydney,” the text of his speech to the Business Council said. “However, at the moment, nearly all the migration is to our two largest cities.”
“Meanwhile, we have other parts of Australia wanting more people. South Australian Premier Steven Marshall, for example, has said that they would like an additional ... 15,000 migrants a year. I have regional mayors telling me they want hundreds more in their area. The Warrnambool Standard in western Victoria recently had as their front-page headline: ‘Wanted — 1,000 workers,’” the text read.
Tudge’s speech reiterated the government’s position that Australia depends on a significant skilled migrant intake, citing Australian Department of Treasury figures that show a 1 percent increase in population correlates with a 1 percent increase in GDP. Migrants add to the tax base, fill employment gaps and bring down the median working age.
“We want the best and brightest from the around the world,” the speech said. “We need to not just be open to facilitating skilled migrants coming here, but in the case of the global super talent, actively seeking them out.”
However, Tudge said that the government was looking at formal programs to push migration to regional areas where there was demand for particular skills.
Customized labor agreements — negotiated directly between a business bringing in workers and the Australian Department of Home Affairs — would be extended to cover specific regional areas as “designated area migration agreements,” he said.
“That is, entering boutique arrangements with business leaders in a defined geographical region when the region clearly has requirements which are different to the national ones. Far north Queensland is a good example, as is the Western Australian gold fields. These negotiated agreements will cover all industries and positions where there are identified and proven shortages,” Tudge said.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has calculated that the nation’s population ticked past 25 million late yesterday.
Accounting for births, deaths, arrivals and departures, a new person is added to the population every 83 seconds.
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