Judith Sloan has a piece in the Weekend Australian that aims to convince us that immigration levels should be cut back. The annual intake of permanent migrants, excluding humanitarian entrants, is 190,000.
She argues that current levels are a burden on current inhabitants through congestion, environmental pressures or housing affordability. She also says that some of the occupations on the skill shortage list should not be there. And those eligible bring their less employable spouse plus children.
For me the case for the present high immigration levels is twofold. Firstly the benefit to the immigrants far outweighs any inconvenience to current inhabitants. Furthermore these inconveniences are best dealt with by investing in increased carrying capacity. Secondly, the bigger we are the better from the point of view of contributing to the overall strength of the western democracies.
Different Wavelength 