21 December 2010
The 31 per cent fall in Australias immigration intake should satisfy advocates of a ˜small Australia, according to the Urban Taskforce. The Taskforces chief executive, Aaron Gadiel, said that todays Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures reveal that the national population grew by just 1.7 per cent in 2009/2010, down from 2.2 per cent in 2008/09.
Annual population growth has now dipped below its five year average of 1.8 per cent, Mr Gadiel said.
Natural increase now accounts for 43 per cent of our annual population growth its highest share since 2006.
Mr Gadiel said that the Federal Government should be mindful of the adverse economic impact of falling immigration levels.
Strong immigration has been a key part of Australias economic success story, he said.
A sustainable population policy should not mean reduced immigration it just requires bigger, smarter investment in urban infrastructure.
Mr Gadiel said that 31 per cent of the migration coming into Australia ends up in NSW, down from 43 per cent nine years ago.
Victoria accepts 28 per cent of Australias net overseas migration, Queensland takes 18 per cent and Western Australia is at 13 per cent.
Despite the popular myth, NSW accepts only a minority of new migrants an almost equal share of the migration intake goes to Victoria, he said.
You might not realise it from listening to anti-immigration advocates, but NSW and Queensland are among the states that are less dependent on immigration for their population growth.
The state most reliant on immigration to sustain its population is Victoria, where natural increase accounts for only 37 per cent of growth. South Australia comes second with natural increase making up 38 per cent of its growth, followed by Western Australia (38 per cent), NSW (47 per cent), Queensland (50 per cent) and Tasmania (51 per cent).
Mr Gadiel said that population growth is strongest in booming Western Australia, with an annual growth rate of 2.2 per cent, but this is still the states lowest rate of population growth in four years.
Queensland is Australias second fastest growing state, with a population increase of 2 per cent, down from 2.8 per cent in the previous year, he said.
Queensland has just experienced its lowest annual rate of population growth since 2001.
Victoria ranks third (1.8 per cent), and NSW fourth (1.5 per cent) both experienced their lowest rate of growth since 2007.
South Australia and Tasmania trail with 1.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent growth respectively.
Mr Gadiel said that, within Australia, the net movement of the nations existing residents was away from NSW and South Australia to the other states.
NSW lost 10,500 residents in the last financial year and South Australia lost 3,000 residents.
They ended up in Queensland (an extra 9,600 migrants from interstate), Victoria (2,600), Western Australia (2,000) and Tasmania (300).
Mr Gadiel said it was hardly surprising that so many people were choosing to exit NSW and South Australia.
Over the last five years, NSW and South Australia have suffered the lowest rate of average job growth of the mainland states, he said.
People are moving to where the economy is thriving and jobs are plentiful.
According to separately published ABS figures, in the five years to June 2010, the annual rate of job growth has been strongest in Western Australia (3.6 per cent), followed by Queensland (3.3 per cent), Victoria (2.6 per cent); South Australia (1.9 per cent), NSW (1.8 per cent) and Tasmania (1.8 per cent).
Strangely, low job growth seems to be the policy choice of the NSW Government, Mr Gadiel said.
Last week it released a new planning strategy for Sydney based on job growth for Sydney between 2006 and 2036 of just 1 per cent a year.
Thats a major reduction on Sydneys previous rate of job growth (down by a quarter) and represents one third of Melbournes annual job growth.
NSWs existing resident population will continue to vacate the state as long as governments continue to plan for painfully slow employment growth.
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers
