Over many years, Ross Gittins was one of the mainstream media’s few shining lights on this issue of immigration.
Plug in the term “immigration” into Ross Gittins’ website and you will see a stack of articles arguing against ‘Big Australia’ immigration on economic, environmental and livability grounds.
Gittins’ last major salvo on the issue was published in July 2021 in response to the release of the Intergenerational Report, which forecast a 13.1 million (50%) increase in Australia’s population in just 40 years – equivalent to adding another Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Australia’s existing population. In that article Gittins wrote [my emphasis]:
Almost all the nation’s business people, economists and politicians believe too much population growth is never enough. But if there’s one thing I hope to be remembered for, it’s that I always subjected this case of group think to critical examination.
I remain to be convinced that a Big Australia would be better either for our material living standards or for our efforts to limit the damage our economic activity is doing to our natural environment – the erosion of the nation’s “natural capital”…
The immigrants may gain by moving to Australia, but the rest of us don’t gain from their coming.
However, the [Intergenerational] report’s fine print (aka its technical appendix) advises that its projections “do not capture the broader economic, social or environmental effects of migration, such as technology spillovers or congestion”…
Looking at the economic effects, the advocates of high immigration always point to the benefit of greater economies of scale, while brushing aside the costs of the increased housing, capital equipment and public infrastructure that a bigger population and workforce must be provided with to ensure the productivity of its labour doesn’t fall.
Indeed, it’s possible our high rate of population growth is a factor contributing to our weak rate of productivity improvement…
Curiously, Gittins has written two articles on this week’s Jobs & Skills Summit, neither of which mention immigration. This is despite the Albanese Government basically confirming that it will ramp-up immigration to its highest ever level following the Summit, starting with the October Federal Budget.
Why has Ross Gittins gone silent on immigration precisely when Australians need him most? Like him, Australian voters overwhelming do not support a return to pre-pandemic levels of immigration (or higher), yet are unrepresented at the Summit.
C’mon Ross. Australians need you to re-enter the immigration debate, to “subject this case of group think to critical examination”, and to stand up for our interests. Now is not the time to go MIA.
