The growth lobby and Australia's immigration policy

People and Place

Volumn 14, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 40-52

  Betts, Katharine ^a   Gilding, Michael ^a  

^a SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

IMMIGRATION POLICY; POPULATION GROWTH; POPULATION MIGRATION;

AUSTRALASIA; AUSTRALIA;

EID: 33846937593     PISSN: 10394788     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (90)

1. From 1946 to 1958 long term arrivals (temporary arrivals of people intended to stay at least 12 months) were included in with the permanent figures and this inflated the number of people presumed to be permanent immigrants. Charles Price writes that prior to 1959 three substantial non-settler elements were included in the so-called permanent arrivals: Australian-born residents returning after trips abroad of 12 months or more; foreign-born well-established settlers who'd made a trip abroad of 12 months or more: and visitors who were indeed long-term visitors. See C. Price, Immigration and Ethnicity: The Work of Charles Price, Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Canberra, 1996, pp. 2-3.
2. These are net total migration figures. They are based on all arrivals (short-term or less than 12 months, long term or 12 months or more, and permanent) minus all departures. The sources are Demography Bulletin, Bureau of Census and Statistics. Canberra, for immigration figures for 1947-48 to 1958-59 and Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), catalogue no. 3404.0 for 1959-60 to 1970-71. Differences in the way the statistics were kept before 1959 complicate comparisons between then and now.
3. See W. D. Borrie, First Report of the National Population Inquiry, The Government Printer of Australia, Canberra, 1975. pp. 101-102. The 1947 Population figures are from p. 138.
4. Population Projections, Australia, 2004 to 2101, catalogue no. 3222.0, ABS, Canberra, 2005, p. 49.
5. In June 2005 Sydney's population was 4.3 million and Melbourne's 3.6 million: Australian Demographic Statistics (December Quarter), catalogue no. 3101.0, ABS, Canberra, June 2006, p. 16
6. See J. Giesecke, 'The economic impact of skilled migration', People and Place, vol. 14, no. 3, 2006, pp. 48-63.
7. The net figure shown in Figure 1 is net overseas migration (NOM) which is slightly different form the net total figures cited above for 1946-47 to 1972-73. Unlike the net total figure, NOM is based on net permanent and long-term movement. It is adjusted to take account of category jumping, the tendency of some movers originally counted as short-term to become long-term or permanent and vice versa. The category-jumping data are based on estimates and are subject to revision but they are widely used. However they are not available for years prior to 1975.
8. Growth in GDP was negative from the September quarter 1990 to the June quarter 1991, and hovered around zero for the next two quarters. By September 1992 to June 1993 GDP growth was fairly strongly positive. See Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, spreadsheet, ABS, catalogue no. 5206.0
9. Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, op. cit.
10. See . This gives 142,930 for the general migration program. Together with an estimate of 13,000 for the humanitarian program this gives 155,930.
11. ibid. (This figure also includes an estimate of 13,000 humanitarian migrants.)
12. See K. Betts, The Great Divide: Immigration Politics in Australia, Duffy and Snellgrove, Sydney, 1999.
13. The originators of this thesis are Robert Birrell and Tanya Birrell. See 'The dynamics of immigration policy', in R. Birrell and C. Hay (Eds), The Immigration Issue in Australia, Department of Sociology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 1978 and An Issue of People (second edition), Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1987.
14. and An Issue of People (second edition), Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1987.
15. See also J. Warhurst, 'The growth lobby and its opponents: business, unions, environmentalists and other interest groups', J. Jupp and M. Kabala (Eds), The Politics of Australian Immigration, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1993.
16. An earlier analysis can be found in M. Walsh, 'The politics of it all', in How Many Australians? Immigration and Growth, Australian Institute of Political Science, proceedings of the 37th Summer School, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1971. (Walsh defines the growth lobby more broadly to include the Immigration Department itself as well as manufacturers, some unions and local government.)
17. In 1971 Appleyard argued that, while immigration in the late 1940s and 1950s had been driven by labour shortages and concern about defence, by the mid 1950s both rationales had faded. However, immigration continued because 'the economy became well and truly conditioned to large intakes each year'. See R. T. Appleyard. 'Immigration and the Australian economy', in How Many Australians? 1971, op. cit., p. 3.
18. For the privileged position of business in relation to governments, see J. Warhurst, 'Interest groups and political lobbying', in A. Parkin, J. Summers and D. Woodward (Eds), Government, Politics, Power and Policy in Australia 8th edn, Pearson, Sydney, 2006, p. 335,
19. and A. Parkin and L. Hardcastle, 'Government-business relations', in ibid., pp. 343-62.
20. For the privileged position of business in relation to the Liberal Party, see R.W. Connell, and T.H. Irving, Class Structure in Australian History: Documents, Narrative and Evidence, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1980, pp. 289-91.
21. Quoted in K. Childs, 'And after this break, another Packer drama?', The Age, 1987, 21 January, p. 11
22. Quoted in 'Murdoch urges Australia to boost immigration', Reuters, 1999, 8 November
23. Editorial, 'Migrants inspire us in racing and life', The Australian, 2003, 7 November, p. 12,
24. and Editorial, 'Australian values on the front line', The Australian, 2006, 16 September, p. 18
25. See ibid.,
26. and: 'Visas approved', 2006, 18 October, p. 13;
27. 'Making the boom pay for all of us', 2006. 5 August, p. 18;
28. 'Re-skilling Australia', 2006, 18 April, p. 11;
29. 'Future of society', 2006, 20 February, p. 9;
30. 'Inviting immigrants', 2006, 18 January, p. 13;
31. 'A question of skill', 2005, 19 August, p. 9;
32. 'Many more hands make lighter work', 2005, 5 March, p. 16;
33. 'Guests cannot do all the work', 2004, 29 December, p. 12;
34. 'Making the case for more immigrants', 2004, 21 August, p. 18;
35. 'Populism on boatpeople will not wash', 2003, 7 November, p. 12;
36. 'Population debate is about people', 2002, 9 November, p. 18;
37. 'Wave goodbye to the fear of immigration', 2002, 13 July, p. 18;
38. 'Migrants offer more than Carr', 2002, 10 July;
39. 'Six million migrants making us proud', 2002, 19 March, p. 10;
40. 'Let's welcome more immigrants', 2002, 27 February, p. 10;
41. 'Federation a celebration of our nationhood', 2001, 1 January, p. 12.
42. B. Carr, 'Small and well formed ... let's leave it that way', The Australian, 2002, 18 March, p. 13
43. S. Newman, The growth lobby and its absence: the relationship between the property development and housing industries and immigration policy in Australia and France, MA Thesis, Swinburne University of Technology, 2002
44. See M. Gilding. 'Entrepreneurs, elites and the ruling class: the changing structure of power and wealth in Australian society', Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 39, no. 1, 2004, pp. 127-43;
45. M. Gilding, 'Families and fortunes: accumulati6on, management succession and inheritance in wealthy families', Journal of Sociology, vol. 41, no. 1, 2005, pp. 29-45;
46. M. Gilding, Secrets of the Super Rich, Harper Collins, Sydney, 2002.
47. From transcripts of interviews conducted by M. Gilding in 1999
48. In 1991, 73 per cent of voters said that the numbers coming in were 'too many'. See Saulwick Poll, published in The Age, 4 November 1991. In September 1996 this figure was still 71 per cent: Newspoll, published in The Australian, 4 October 1996.
49. See K. Betts, 'Immigration policy under the Howard Government', Australian Journal of Social Issues. vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 169-192.
50. See M. Goot, 'More "relaxed and comfortable": public opinion on immigration under Howard', People and Place, vol. 8, no. 3, 2000, p. 47.
51. M. McKew, 'Lunch with Maxine McKew: Senator Nick Minchin'. The Bulletin, 6 November 2001, pp. 33-34
52. From transcript of interview conducted by M. Gilding in 1999
53. M. Grattan, 'People power', The Australian Financial Review, 1998, 3 July, p. 33
54. See M. Grattan, 'Keeping to a tight Australia policy', The Australian Financial Review, 1998, 16 November, p. 21,
55. and J. Koutsoukis, 'Double our migrants: industry', The Age, 1999, 8 February, p. 3.
56. N. Bita, 'Employers court skilled retirees to fill jobs vacuum', The Australian, 1998, 3 March, p. 3
57. W. Adams, 'Counting heads', The Australian, 1999, 4 May, p. 32
58. Quoted in ibid.
59. Quoted in B. Birnbauer, 'A land half-full', The Age (News Extra), 1998, 14 March, p. 4
60. See Betts, 1999, op. cit. for evidence of the way in which the intelligentsia's humanitarian ideals of international social justice, combined with their desire to be seen to be anti-racist muted the immigration debate in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s.
61. See also sources quoted in W. Lines, Patriots: Defending Australia's Natural Heritage, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, 2006, pp. 128, 180-3, 220, 288-90, 311-2, 347-8.
62. See .
63. National Planning Conference, 31 August 2006
64. Quoted in A. Hodge, 'Plea to Populate to 50m or perish', The Australian, 1999, 25 November, p. 3
65. V. Trioli, 'The population agenda', The Bulletin, 2002, 19 February, p. 31. The papers from the summit were published in S. Vizard, H. Martin and T. Watts (Eds), Australia's Population Challenge. Penguin, Camberwell (Vic), 2003.
66. The papers from the summit were published in S. Vizard, H. Martin and T. Watts (Eds), Australia's Population Challenge. Penguin, Camberwell (Vic), 2003.
67. Trioli, 2002, op. cit.
68. A. Clennell, 'Triguboff: let's trade trees for homes', The Sydney Morning Herald, 2006, 11 October, p. 3
69. ibid.
70. See ibid.
71. Quoted in A. Symonds, 'Keating takes swipe at developers', The Australian Financial Review, 2006, 31 October, p. 6
72. M. Iemma, 'The business of my Government is business', The Australian, 2005, 8 October, p. 29
73. H. Triguboff, 'The homegrown economy', BRW., 2006, 21 September, p. 20
74. H. Triguboff, 'Development Should make the most of existing infrastructure', The Sydney Morning Herald, 2006, 24 October, p. 15. In this piece he also sets the record straight and claims that he loves trees and would not be able to sell his apartments unless he provided some green space. What he is opposed to is an 'unthinking love of trees'.
75. See J. Norrie and A. Davies, 'Cut the political cashflow', The Sydney Morning Herald, 2006, 2 November, p. 1.
76. See S. Marris, 'Howard to woo brightest migrants', The Australian, 2000, 11 December, p. 3;
77. B. Norington, '20,000 foreign workers fill skills gap', The Australian, 2004, 28 December, p. 3.
78. Harnisch's words are a direct quote; Bethwaite's are indirect. See C. Banham, 'Door opens to 6000 more immigrants', The Sydney Morning Herald, 2004, 2 April, p. 1.
79. See Betts, 1999, op. cit., pp. 195-197, 211-219.
80. B. Birrell and V. Rapson, Clearing the Myths Away: Higher Education's Place in Meeting Workforce Demands, Centre for Population and Urban Research, Monash University, Melbourne, 2006, p. 12
81. ibid. HECS stands for Higher Education Contribution Scheme. See .
82. Birrell and Rapson, 2006, op. cit., p. 3
83. B. Birrell, 'Skilled Migration reflects our neglect', The Australian Financial Review, 2005, 15 April, p. 91;
84. B. Birrell, J. Sheridan and V. Rapson,'Why no action on engineering training?', People and Place, vol. 13, no.4, 2005, pp. 34-47
85. See Birrell and Rapson, 2006, op. cit.
86. See, for example, B. Birrell, L. Hawthorne and S. Richardson, Evaluation of the General Skilled Migration Categories, Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Canberra, 2006, pp. 92, 108-109, 122, 160-169;
87. B. Kinnard, 'Australia's migration policy and skilled ICT professionals: the case for an overhaul', People and Place, vol. 10, no. 2, 2002, pp. 55-69;
88. B. Birrell, 'The business skills program: is it delivering?', People and Place, vol. 8, no, 4, 2000, pp. 36-42.
89. See K. Betts, 'Immigration and public opinion: understanding the shift', People and Place, vol. 10, no. 4, 2002, pp. 24-37.
90. Birrell and Rapson report that the small increases in university places for domestic students recently instituted are offset by a tightening up in the previous practice of universities being allowed to over-enroll. See Birrell and Rapson, 2006, op. cit., p. 9.