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Australia May 26, 2011 – Tony Burke, the Australian Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has recently released a report on Sustainable Australia – Sustainable Communities, A Sustainable Population Strategy for Australia at the Housing Industry Association Conference 2011.

Aimed to “help to ensure that future population change is compatible with the economic, environmental and social wellbeing of Australia,” the report on population that Burke released was said to be omitting the importance of immigration’s role in population growth in Australia.

The report also failed to mention Australia’s population based upon the immigration intake and previous projections by Treasury.

With this omission, Burke argued that it is not viable to set population targets, due to the diversity of factors that can affect population growth. However, some demographers believe that there should be set projections on population ranges and it is important that the government should consider the role of Australian immigration to population growth.

Immigration plays a big part and is one of the few elements of population growth that the government can control.
Discussion on immigration was omitted on the report, as political controversies surround the issue. Out of the 82 pages of Burke’s report, only two pages are devoted to the subject.

Otherwise, the report neglected to tackle the importance of immigration, particularly issues on temporary immigration, to population growth. Though the future could not be predicted by the government, the government can still try to project the effect of immigration to overall population growth.

As new changes in immigration to Australia laws happen, Australia visa and requirements are being implemented. Australia now faces numerous factors that could continue to contribute to population growth in the future.

Dr Anna Boucher, a lecturer in government and international relations, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, stated in her news report that “While the government cannot predict the future, it can make projections, and open discussion about likely net overseas migration (the net gain or loss of population through immigration and emigration) is an important part of this conversation. It should have been a central part of Burke’s report.”

source:
smh.com.au