Immigration then and now

Modern Australia is a country of immigrants but the reality of immigration today is very different from that of the past and on an entirely different scale.

What is migration for?

High levels of immigration in Western countries have provoked a backlash, not least in Australia where One Nation is riding high in the polls, so what is migration for?

The immigration question

Both political blocks have encouraged immigration to boost economic growth for decades but right wing parties are now riding high on the public backlash, forcing a rethink on immigration policy, and very different rhetoric than before.

The perfect storm

Economic shocks, social strains, and rising inequality have unsettled democracies everywhere. In this atmosphere of fear and anger, immigration has been cast as the culprit, offering populists a simple story for a complex age.

Reskilling immigration

Refocusing Australia’s permanent immigration programme on Skilled Stream primary applicants would help Australia address labour shortages while restoring public confidence in immigration policy.

“All they will call you will be deportee”

Donald Trump is pressing ahead with his plan to deport undocumented immigrants and those with criminal records, and Pacific nations are likely to be affected, as well as Latin American states.

Taking the pulse on immigration

Opinion polls show that most Australians think immigration rates have climbed too high, but more nuanced polling could help inform the government’s range of strategies to address this complex issue.

Turning off the tap

Politicians have boosted Australia’s economic performance through increases in immigration rather than productivity over the last 20 years, but the current housing and infrastructure crisis has prompted a rethink, not least in the much abused foreign student visa system.

Business wants a ‘big Australia’

Rather than train skilled workers themselves, Australian business wants to import workers trained at other nations’ expense to fill gaps in the domestic labour market.

Arvanitakis on American politics: What’s happening on the border?

US President Joe Biden must walk a fine line on immigration policy. If it is seeing as being too harsh, there will be a revolt amongst its own ranks, but if it appears too lax, the Republicans are ready to pounce.

Is it the end of ‘Big Australia’?

COVID-19 has ended the immigration boom. In Australia, the tide of overseas workers and students that has contributed to 25 years of economic growth has stopped dead in its tracks.

The airport border ‘crisis’ is a symptom of management failure

From high staff turn-overs to filling the appeals tribunal with political allies, the Home Affairs department needs to get a grip on Australia’s airport immigration problem.