• Peter McDonald

10 May 2010The debate should be about more than numbers, writes Peter McDonald in the Australian

THE DEBATE about Australia's population growth conventionally depicts overseas migration as leading to housing shortages, urban congestion and a range of other problems deriving from inadequate infrastructure. Of course, more people create more demand for housing and infrastructure and so in this simple sense the argument is correct. However, the argument about immigration is not simply about extra numbers of people. In a more complete consideration of its impact, immigration can be seen as part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Australia is facing the challenge of accommodating the rapid growth of the resources sector and its multiplier effects in the context of an absolute shortage of labour. Labour demands from the resources sector and allied industries will be very great during the next decade, particularly during the construction phase we are now entering...

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Peter McDonald is director of the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute at the Australian National University

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