The Australian Financial Review and ABC Online lead reports that Australia’s population is set to hit 25 million tonight according to projections from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The 25 millionth person is statistically most likely to be a young, female Chinese student or a skilled worker.
Political Announcements 7 August 2018
As Australia’s population hits 25 million, Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge says we need to spread migrants across country
Too many skilled migrants are ending up unemployed and the immigration load needs to be spread more evenly across the nation, to places including South Australia, Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge says. As the population officially hits 25 million on Tuesday, Mr Tudge will emphasise the need for the nation to continue attracting the “best and brightest” from around the world through immigration.
With the Australian population set to tick past 25 million people at about 11pm on Tuesday, the government is seeking to encourage new migrants to live and work outside Sydney and Melbourne. Of the 111,000 new skilled migrants who arrived in Australia last year – the largest cohort of permanent arrivals – 87% settled in the two biggest cities.
ABC News, News Breakfast, 07/08/18, Michael Rowland, Del Irani and Georgie Tunny
Interview with Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister Alan Tudge. Rowland says Australia’s population is growing at 40 people per hour or 1000 each day, fuelled mainly by migration. Tudge admits areas like Sydney and Melbourne are feeling the pressure of population growth, but says there are other regions in Australia which are crying out for more people. He thinks the country has a distribution and infrastructure problem. He notes almost 90% of all skilled migrants come to Melbourne and Sydney, putting additional pressure on the capital cities. Tudge says the SA Premier wants an extra 15000 people each year. He assures he’s looking at putting additional conditions on visas to make sure migrants go and stay in regional areas. He stresses that while strong population growth and skilled migration can be good for the economy, it has to be balanced with other factors like social cohesion and infrastructure expenditure
The Australian. Jones says Peta Credlin pointed out that according to the official ABS data in 2016-17, around 539,000 people arrived in Australia. He says Ruddock believed in a big Australia. He claims this is the fastest population growth of any western nation. He says in Bob Carr’s book Run For Your Life, painted a picture of Sydney in 2035. Le Grand says their greatest export elements, tourism and education, means bringing people in the country. He says the debate has now shifted to the concern of ordinary people. He says outside Melbourne and Sydney, the regional areas like SA and Tas are crying out for people
08:30 News, 07/08/18, Newsreader
There is a growing demand for engineers in SA. Greg Parker from Engineers Australia says more and more jobs are coming online.