There are two population debates going on in Australia.
The first is the public debate that has inundated the media in recent weeks; all about forecasts, sustainability, infrastructure, economics, demographics and really serious-sounding matters.
The second is the subterranean debate that’s rarely discussed in public because it contains two unpalatable truths that require … oxymoron coming … really careful handing by politicians and media.
Unpalatable Truth #1: The majority of Australians are opposed to meaningful population growth, dislike the idea of high levels of immigration and want political refugees refused entry. These unfortunate attitudes are supported in poll after poll — this one and this one in recent days and weeks.
Unpalatable Truth #2: There is private acknowledgement among government and strategic decision-makers that Australia has a moral responsibility, as the richest and most underpopulated nation in the Asian region, to be seen to be growing its population and assuming its share of humanitarian migration. This is partly because of the terrible optics of a fortress Australia approach, and partly because such an approach is so out of sync with population trends in our region that it could generate enough resentment among our neighbours to present a serious security risk to Australia.
Of course our political leaders are aware of these unpalatable truths, and talk about them privately. But they also know they are dynamite issues that, if raised in public, need to be handled with care so that they don’t incite the wrong kind of populist debate that wedges politicians into make the wrong kinds of decisions for Australia’s long-term interests.
The unnerving part of where we are now is not the existence of the unpalatable truths. It’s the spectre, six months or so from a federal election, of the growing temptation on one side of politics to deploy the dog whistle for a purely electoral dividend.
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Both of these “Unpalatable Truths” are a load of crap – especially the second one.
Re Unpalatable Truth #2: The assumption that Australia is “underpopulated” is unjustifiable. We already have a people plague which commandeers water, land, trees – the environment in general, to the detriment of all other species apart from some introduced pests such as rats, mice, silverfish and cockroaches. Research proposals to dam the Williams River in NSW for additional water supplies for the Newcastle/Central Coast regions if you doubt this. Or review the sad stories of lost forests in every State. Or consider that Australia is the world’s champion when it comes to extinctions of vertibrates and many so-called lower forms of life.
It is well past time for this assumption of underpopulation to be publicly challenged and defeated.
As for any assumption that the surplus of unregulated human breeding in other lands may honorably or benefitially be dumped on this relatively sparsely settled island: this is akin to pumping water from a sinking ship into an adjacent buoyant boat, to ensure that they sink together.
We should get to choose who comes here, rather than opportunistic people smugglers, and they should be deserving, rather than simply being rich enough to afford a boat trip.
It is not simple to decide an issue like this with an instinctive top of the head response. There is a lot at stake here.
1) The developed world is aging. And attitudes that really belong to a pre-global world are hampering a clear vision of what is possible and/or needed.
2) It would be possible to have a win-win situation here. But this would not be effortless or without costs. And while any policy is put in place, in transition, there will be hiccups.
3) Part of that transition may require us all to work longer, since we now live much longer than our working lives. Past patterns of saving and investing we are used to dont support that easily.
4) While we do that, we need to compete for a) young b) skilled c) entrepreneurial people to join us and invest in the resources to enable them to fulfil their potential. In the past, Australia has been extremely wasteful of its migrant population with highly skilled people wasting their lives as taxi drivers, public service clerks. I know a few. This was because there was not the concomittent effort to invest in the resources to transform them into equally productive individuals here. Sometimes, it was due to the political will to keep them out of the skilled workforce to maintain wages, sometimes just plain racist attitudes. We should learn from the past and avoid these traps.
5) We need to formulate a vision that transcends national boundaries, because the time and place we are in requires that. We all depend on each other. We headhunt CEOs overseas. Should we start thinking in terms of sabbaticals for politicians? If not, why not? Why cant we take best practices from around the world and learn from them? And also teach them. This applies to the public service as well. Yes, I realise this is a bit pie in the sky, but it is worth keeping an open mind on the future, as globalisation will eventually ensure we all speak common tongues.
6) We need more flexible migration policies around the globe. Perhaps there should be a way of migrating to different countries for a few years at a time. A kind of hot desk migrating? Why not? A lot of our attitudes are based on past experiences and we dont even see that the future could be/should be way different. It may also be a far more interesting one, if we get it right.
The government is switching narratives. Climate Change failed to deliver. GFC is on the wane. The next big thing is Population and Sustainability.
They’ll use it to justify their programs and also break down the silo centric thinking within government departments. All kinds of projects can be punted to Burke’s team under this new ‘big project’ portfolio.
Immigration isn’t going to be focus. It’ll be about infrastructure and sustainability… which is why it fits with Burke’s other roles.
Your ‘unpalatable truths’ are frankly silly.