Thread: Australian Business champions migration drive

The Business Council of Australia , Australia's peak business body, has issued a warning that the country's low population is dragging down the standard of living.


They are calling on the Government for a migration drive, saying low population growth over the next 40 years will retard economic growth.


The warning comes as the Federal Government is attempting to devise a sustainable population strategy.


Maria Tarrant, the Business Council's deputy chief executive says the projections in the inter-generational report shows the population will grow to between 30 million and 36 million in 2050.


"So that starts to talk about wanting net migration levels of around about 180,000 a year, roughly in line with where we've been," she said.


"At the moment migration represents about 1.4 per cent. This will be about 1.2 per cent." Maintaining this level could be a hard sell given the pressure points and congestion already experienced in Australian cities.


But Ms Tarrant argues no or low levels of immigration growth represent serious risks.
"In part that's because what you're doing is shifting a higher financial burden to the community as the population ages," she said.


"But you're also setting up for an economy that ends up being quite specialised - we don't have the range of industries covered - and that leaves us more open to the impacts of any global shock."

While the Australian economy may have pulled through the last economic downturn, that may not be possible in future, Ms Tarrant says.

"So at the moment for every Australian aged over 65, there are approximately five people in the workforce. In 2050 you're talking about less than three people for every person over 65," she said.


"So it's the relationship of a different age group - the number of people who are actually in the economy who are contributing to economic growth - who are contributing to the taxation system."

I wish they would make their minds up there have been some poor people waiting years to get in and they keep moving the goal posts.