View from The Hill: Let’s make the argument for, not against, migration: Malinauskas

It’s not very fashionable to be strongly pro-migration these days.

The Albanese government continues to agonise over how to rejig the program to meet its budget targets – including Net Overseas Migration (NOM) falling from about 300,000 at present to 225,000 by 2027–28.

The coming changes are being posited as major but after arguments among senior ministers, there is still no date for their unveiling.

The opposition has committed to a big cut in the intake, although it is yet to release the details and the final baseline figure won’t be out this year.

Each side is reacting to strong public sentiment for a smaller intake, which is being fanned by One Nation.

Now South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has delivered a counter view, and warnings, declaring in a speech to the Sydney Institute this week: The correct policy response to Australia’s present economic challenges and the realisation of tomorrow’s economic opportunities is this: Above all else, preserve our strong migration program. […] the correct political response to anti-immigration politics and populists is not appeasement.

Malinauskas warned against “the prospect of mainstream politics entering a political race to the bottom for who can cut migration numbers the most.

This is not unfortunate – this is madness”.

Such a race would hurt every Australian economically, and that would further undermine democratic discourse.

Malinauskas said people in leadership positions must explain how unreasonably slashing immigration would not fix problems, but actually make them worse.

Read more: What is migration for? How national needs wrestle with a basic human desire He highlighted how important migration was to deal with an ageing population, as well as helping federal and state budgets.

Here’s the beauty – skilled migrants arrive job ready, now – at a relatively low cost.

In 2021 Federal Treasury estimated the average Australian-born resident has a lifetime net cost to public budgets of $85,000.

Net cost.