The secret to Australia avoiding recession |
A flood of arrivals that`s swelled the population by 50 per cent over has allowed a succession of governments to boast of avoiding recession since 1991.India is the biggest source of skilled migrants, comprising 21 per cent in fiscal 2017, followed by China on 15 per cent and the UK with 9 per cent. Australia is standing firm amid growing calls for immigration curbs, even as the US and Europe succumb to rising populism. It has little choice if it`s to continue a period of record economic expansion. A flood of arrivals that`s swelled the population by 50 per cent over the past three decades has underpinned economic growth and allowed a succession of governments to boast of avoiding recession since 1991. Populists are blaming immigrants for over-burdened infrastructure, soaring housing prices and low wage growth. Australia`s former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, now on the government`s backbench, is among those saying “enough.” He wants to slash the annual allowance to 110,000 migrants from 190,000, a move the government says could shrink its coffers by as much as A$5 billion ($3.9 billion) over four years. Anti-multiculturalism senator Pauline Hanson is calling for zero net migration.
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