In a month’s time, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will stand up in the House of Representatives at around 7.30pm and utter these words: I move that the Bill be now read a second time.
It will be the starting line for Chalmers’ third budget.
Illustration: Andrew Dyson.Credit: Andrew Dyson
His second line should be: Thank god for migrants; they’ve kept the economy afloat for the past year.
Without the extra population driven by migration, and the demand for goods and services these migrants have brought with them, the Australian economy would be in a recession by now.
Without those migrants, countless small businesses – many which were desperately short of staff just 18 months ago – would have the shutters up.
Without those migrants, the university sector – one of Australia’s biggest economic advantages – would be slashing staff.
Chalmers should be celebrating those migrants because at the moment, they are being attacked from the left and the right.
From congestion on the roads and even the demand on water supply, social (and traditional) media is filled with complaints (many of which are unfounded, baseless or misinformed) about the unprecedented surge in migrant numbers that has taken place since the pandemic-era ban on international travel ended.
Chief among these gripes is housing. There’s been some amazingly poor analysis written about the intersection of homes and our recent population surge.
Migrants – what are they good for? A lot, actually
7
1
09.04.2024
In a month’s time, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will stand up in the House of Representatives at around 7.30pm and utter these words: I move that the Bill be now read a second time.
It will be the starting line for Chalmers’ third budget.
Illustration: Andrew Dyson.Credit: Andrew Dyson
His second line should be: Thank god for migrants; they’ve kept........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Rami G Khouri
Nikkei Editorial
