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WE are hurtling towards a "big Australia", despite Prime Minister Julia Gillard's misgivings about this before the last election.
The Immigration Department has warned that the huge number of Asians wanting to emigrate from their poor countries was challenging the "integrity" of the migrant intake.
Annual net migration has been slowing in the last few years and will bottom out at 158,000 this month, according to a report released yesterday.
But the intake is expected to jump to 180,000 by next March and will reach about 188,000 by mid-2014.
Anything over 180,000 immigrants puts us on track for a population of 36 million by 2050 - the "big Australia" scenario that Ms Gillard criticised last year when distancing herself from her predecessor Kevin Rudd, a confessed "big Australia man".
Monash University demographer Dr Bob Birrell said yesterday the Federal Government's recent decision to significantly increase the migration intake meant big business had won the debate.
"We are on track for a big Australia again," he said.
But the Immigration Department's report warned that Australia faced a problem in attracting quality migrants, as most of the demand came from China, India, and Vietnam.
"(They) have local wages that are far lower than those in Australia (and) this disparity is likely to persist for a considerable time to come," said The Outlook for Net Overseas Migration report.
"One of the challenges facing the department is likely to involve ensuring the integrity of the migration intake, so that Australia receives only enough migrants consistent with economic or labour market needs," it said.
The report said the department was introducing a long-term migration plan to ensure future immigration levels were guided by the nation's "genuine economic needs" rather than the desire of prospective migrants to live here. |
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