Immigration is often a divisive issue in Australian politics and this election is no different. Labor is yet to announce a detailed policy but says it wants to bring migration ‘under control’. The Coalition has recommitted to reducing net overseas migration, claiming that will help Australia’s housing crisis. But experts say the problem is much more complicated, particularly in the outer suburbs of our cities.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:01They moved to Melton looking for an affordable house.
00:07They found a community.
00:09This event is marking the Muslim festival of Eid.
00:12We invite people from different cultures, different ethnicities.
00:19There's a reason Sanya's family chose to settle here in Melbourne's west.
00:24There were good schools here, property was affordable.
00:27That was the main thing.
00:29The vast majority of immigrants who come to Australia settle in our capital cities.
00:34This area is one of the fastest growing in the country.
00:39They come out here for family, but we've got the issues around infrastructure,
00:44public transport not keeping up.
00:47Meanwhile, in Fairfield, the independent mayor says the area in Sydney's west can't cope.
00:53The suburb has a long history of welcoming the country's new arrivals.
00:57We just feel that sometimes the government uses the western suburbs to populate this country,
01:02but not necessarily puts back the infrastructure that is needed to maintain all of our quality of life.
01:09Fairfield's full.
01:10New data from ABC Vote Compass found 49% of the 330,000 respondents wanted somewhat or many fewer immigrants in Australia.
01:22About 30% wanted the same levels as now, and just 16% wanted more.
01:27Now that's a shift from the 2022 Vote Compass results, where about 49% wanted more.
01:34Meanwhile, a Lowy Institute poll conducted last year found about 48% of Australians thought immigration in Australia was too high.
01:44Frank Carbone is calling for sustainable migration.
01:48But what do the experts think?
01:50Rather than the idea that certain areas face too much of the load of migration,
01:56it's more a failure of effective city planning.
01:58There's no magic number for the level of migrants in a society.
02:03It's really shaped by the norms and expectations of that society.
02:09Communities across the country feeling the pinch.