Government wants to boost regional migration away from the major cities –
The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, confirmed yesterday that he favors changes to increase the number of migrants who choose to live in regional areas of Australia.
Here is the trancript …
PAUL KELLY:
Now we’ve got a very fierce debate in this country at the moment about housing affordability and one of the themes which has emerged in this discussion, is the notion that reducing the annual immigration intake might be one way of addressing this issue.
As Immigration Minister, does this particular notion have any appeal to you or for the Government?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Paul, our migration intake should be driven by what’s in our national interest.
Now when John Howard was Prime Minister, he changed the Labor way in which the mix worked, that is to say that we bought in about two thirds of people who came here to work and about a third through the family reunion programme. Now we continue with that same setting today.
The numbers will fluctuate because the economy fluctuates and the demand for foreign labour will wax and wane. So we’re alive to that and we will do what’s in our country’s best interest.
There’s a lot of work that we’ve done between my department, Treasury and Finance to have a look at the economic input of people, particularly if they’re going to settle in Sydney and Melbourne. What that means for those cities. What it means in terms of infrastructure and housing supply, as you say. And there are ways that we are looking at, that we might be able to provide support to people, to choose a regional city for example, if there’s work there.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Would that be in the Budget, Minister, do you think? Is this something that we can expect to hear about, come that Tuesday in May?
PETER DUTTON:
Well I think, wait for the Budget. But just a general point about the migration programme. The idea of putting people out into communities is good for that community, good for that family. There are plenty of examples around the country at the moment, where they can’t, companies can’t ,engage local workers, abattoirs that are completely reliant on workers from overseas, from 457 visas, or other student visas, whatever the case might be. And so those communities are great to raise families in as well.
So if we can look at ways in which we can encourage those families to go and live, beyond just the city limits, then there may be a good outcome on a number of fronts. Not just in terms of the migration outcomes or the settlement integration arrangements of those families. So there can be good economic benefits as well.
So there are different aspects to this argument, Paul, but it is a whole of government effort, because we need to look at where we’re bringing people in, where they’re settling. Generally people will settle where they’ve got family or expat communities to provide support.
But again, there are many examples where we have seen families go out into regional and remote areas. They’ve made a great start and they love the environment in which they live. So if we can encourage more of that, moving people away from capital cities, then I think that’s something that we can embrace.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
So it sounds like something that Bob Carr had been saying from his time as New South Wales Premier. He always had an issue with high immigration into Sydney in particular, because of things like housing affordability.
It sounds like the Government has developed a sympathy for that in some of those large centres, would that be fair?
PETER DUTTON:
I just think the numbers are a reality and that is that most people are going to capital cities. As I say, for good reasons, because they’re either chasing work, or they’ve got family, or an expat community there.
The argument is how could we marry them up with regional communities, where there is a supply of work, where there is an ability to send kids to school and to be a part of community.
Living in regional towns is a great way to raise a family, great way to be involved more intimately in the life of that community and housing and cost of living otherwise has the potential to be much cheaper than living in a capital city.
As we know, there are migrants who have made great starts in regional areas for a long period of time. So it’s a question of marrying up those communities that have a demand and a need for that labour force and those people that are prepared to travel.