Hello and happy Friday.
A busy week in migration and population news, detailed below. Please share this email with those like you.
Population politics
The Sydney Morning Herald hosted a population summit on Monday. Inevitably, migration was central to the debate. The event made lots of news, both in the host paper on the day of the event, as well in other outlets the following day.
The ambition to replicate Canada’s apparent success in having more migrants settle in regional areas was a theme in the coverage.
The SMH produced an editorial after the event:
“Those wishing for a sudden cut in migration should be careful what they wish for. It would certainly undermine property prices and economic growth in general. Australian cities need economies of scale to attract people to high-tech jobs of the future.”
The SMH printed an opinion piece from David Williams of the Planning Institute of Australia, claiming the nation is sleepwalking towards a three-megacity debacle.
NSW Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes got his own op-ed. He was also the feature of reporting following the event, when he called for a "national settlement strategy" instead of relying on state governments.
News online focused on the comments by Victorian Federal Liberal MP Alan Tudge that planning and infrastructure in Melbourne (governed by Labor at state level) was lagging behind Sydney (Liberal). It also included comments from state minister Jacinta Allan defending Melbourne’s record.
The Urban Developer wrapped the various contributions.
People of New Zealand
Abbie O’Brien from SBS told the stories of a series of Kiwis who had lived in Australia for a long time but had still been deported.
It’s a timely story, given debate over the bill to “toughen up” the character test is due in the Senate imminently.
I had some difficulty trying to reconcile the experiences of these individuals with the law without the full facts in each case.
I’d be keen to hear about any circumstances where deportation is imminent for someone who has committed trivial offences, or where someone fears being caught by the retrospective aspect of the bill. Just reply to this email.
What else happened
Policy
The Australian quoted suggestions ($) from an ANU law professor that the bid to strip councils of the right to hold citizenship ceremonies if they refuse to conduct one on Australia Day could be unlawful. The Guardian followed that story, by speaking to Greens councillors.
Apart from the population summit, the other major event this week was the announcement of the numbers for working holiday-makers in 2018-19: an increase of about 7,000 second-year visas compared to the previous year, up to 43,200. It featured in the SMH/Age, The Australian ($), the News Corp tabloids ($) and outlets served by AAP. It was great to see David Coleman’s office provide the same information to all outlets on the same day.
The #88daysaslave hashtag, which is being used by backpacker visa holders to share their experiences on social media, was covered by Sarah Martin in The Guardian.
And CEDA economist Gabriela D’Souza looked at the merits of incentivising migrants to move to regional areas:
“If we want to encourage economic development in regional areas, we need to reduce barriers to investment, improve infrastructure links, provide good quality services such as education and health, and promote the role of anchor institutions like universities. Instead of forcing migrants to live outside of major cities, all levels of government should focus on building up regional economies to promote sustainable jobs and population growth in these areas.”
People
SBS reported of a survey that found Asians were the most likely ethnic group to report experiencing discrimination in Australia.
Shamsher Kainth from SBS Punjabi spoke to Indian national Jaspreet Singh who has lived in Australia for over 13 years. He has been living in Bendigo since 2014, where he works as a commercial cook:
Despite having applied for his permanent skilled regional visa in February 2018, which at the time should have taken about six months for processing, Mr Singh says he has no news about it even 19 months later as the processing time has now risen to 18-21 months.
And still no sign of the Shergold report into refugee resettlement. I had my own FOI rejected this week because the report was deemed “cabinet in confidence”.
The world
The SMH reported that the trade spokesperson for the British opposition has expressed reluctance at the idea of a Labour government pursuing a special free trade agreement with Australia - which might include free movement - after Brexit if his party wins the next election.
And in the Lowy Institute Interpreter, analyst Grant Wyeth looked at Canada’s shift towards the Pacific:
“Ontario still accepts the largest portion of immigrants, but its percentage of the intake is shrinking, while the percentages of Alberta and British Columbia are rising. The country’s internal migration is also favouring these two provinces as it follows their Pacific-facing economic opportunity.”
Thanks for reading.
Lastly, for anyone who cares about having good immigration data, please make a submission to this discussion paper before October 15th. It raises the prospect of the Department of Home Affairs, as a member of the National Intelligence Community, being exempted from new data sharing laws.
The Department has a solid record of releasing data on data.gov.au, which has helped me write better stories and (I can only imagine) you work more efficiently. Let’s do what we can to help them continue that tradition.
Have a good weekend.
Jackson