Letter

In response to More immigration is a must, not an option

Volume of immigration is the issue

Why do writers such as Jack Waterford persist in characterising the discussion of immigration as immigration versus no immigration? This is NOT the discussion being had. It is about the volume of immigration. Even O.N. and Hanson, do not argue for an end to immigration but a reduction to 130 000 pa, about 50 per cent above the long-term average.

And is immigration, over the longer term, really a must? To make this claim successfully, he & others need to explain why, despite some 8 million migrants since circa 2000, we still have a vast array of claimed skill shortages he believes can only be addressed by more immigration. Clearly immigration is not the solution he believes.

It is time for Waterford, et al, to acknowledge what our immigration program is about. It is not – especially at 21st century volumes – about solving skill shortages, it is about creating them: ever more people creating demand that creates shortages that are met by more people who create more demand and create more shortage which are, in turn, met by more people ad infinitum? It is all about insatiable, UNSUSTAINABLE greed.

— Graham Clews from 29 Apperly Close, Kambah, ACT. 2902