For years, Michael Pascoe attacked those calling for lower, more sustainable levels of immigration, while vigorously defending the ‘Big Australia’ policy on spurious economic grounds:
Our migration program is being blamed for everything from housing prices in Sydney and Melbourne to low wages growth to traffic congestion. It’s a measure of how myopic Sydney and Melbourne commentary has become that it would have the nation’s economic parameters set to suit those two cities’ public transport shortcomings…
Who benefits from a bigger population? Over my lifetime, we all have… We have more choices, more vibrancy and, per capita both on average and individually, more wealth. Yes, we have a couple of cities that are feeling growth pains at present, but neither is gargantuan and, time and again, it’s the vibrancy of big cities that provides productivity and creativity growth.
