The most anti-immigration critics in every country seems to be naturalized citizens or long time immigrants. Why leh?
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Ozland Becoming from Bad to Worse
- Thread starter Hypocrite-The
- Start date
Like what happened in South Africa?
Politicians love new voters like these.
Use darkie get fuckie.
How a consumer go-slow and a pile of debt is killing the economy - Business
An image showing a stack of IOU post-it notes and an Australian flag
PHOTO The data says that Australians are being more careful with their money than they have for nearly 20 years. ABC NEWS: ALISTAIR KROIE
On a warm weeknight, Carol Salloum greets a couple of regulars at her restaurant, Almond Bar, in Sydney's inner eastern suburbs.
A year or so back, the popular Syrian eatery would have been full. Tonight, empty tables are a sign of the times.
And it's not just that custom is down; spending is slimmer, even among loyal guests.
"I mean, we've been here now for 12 years and the last 12 months have probably been the most difficult by way of customers not spending," Ms Salloum says.
"You know, rather than two people getting a bottle of wine, they are getting a glass of wine each, that kind of thing. They are thinking twice about where their money is going."
Almond Bar restaurant in Sydney
PHOTO Empty tables are a sign of the times at the Almond Bar restaurant in Sydney. ABC NEWS: BRYAN MILLISS
It's no isolated case.
Consumers aren't quite on strike, but there's definitely a consumer go-slow
"At one point I thought we were going into a recession, to be honest but I'd say [it's] somewhere before that," Ms Salloum says.
"Very weak; it doesn't look great from a business point of view."
Her assessment is on the money.
According to the official estimate from the ABS, Australia's economy expanded at an annual pace of just 1.4 per cent in the last quarter — the slowest rate of economic growth since the global financial crisis.
You have to back nearly 20 years to find a weaker result — in the year 2000 when the GST was introduced. Leave that one-off event aside, and the economy is the weakest it's been since the early 1990s.
Wage growth remains a massive issue
Parlous consumption was one of the big drags on the economy, which is not surprising, considering what's been happening with wages growth.
It's been woeful.
"The last six years has been the worst period for wages growth since the Second World War," says Jim Stanford, chief economist and director of The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.
"Wages have grown so slowly it's undermined consumption, it's undermined job creation and it's contributed to Australia being the most indebted consumers of almost any country in the world."
The wage price index has managed to pull ahead of consumer price rises. But only because — reflecting the weakness in the economy — the inflation rate is extraordinarily low.
If it doesn't feel like your cost of living is falling, though — and you're scratching your head at the talk of wages beating price rises — there may be a good reason.
The price of many necessities of life — food, healthcare, electricity and other utilities — has risen strongly over many years, far outpacing average wage gains.
But the "basket of goods and services" that make up the consumer price index also includes stuff most of us only buy now and again, and people on tight budgets might just forgo: the latest smartphone, for example, or a new whiz-bang laptop, the latest fashion clothing, or international travel.
A graphic comparing wage growth to inflation
PHOTO A comparison of wage growth and prices over the last decade. ABC NEWS: ALISTAIR KROIE
These luxury items ("discretionary spending" in economist speak) are what's bringing down the inflation rate — either because such goods and services fall in price outright or because they cost the same or not much more for better quality are a recorded as price falls under the ABS's measures.
It means, in effect, that there's a bias towards the well-off and people with a lot of disposable income in the cost of living.
"It all depends on what you buy," says Dr Stanford.
"The reality is that the price of many household essentials has been rising much faster than wages."
"So, if you can afford to spend a lot of your income on luxuries, your inflation rate may well be lower than average, but if you spend most of your income goes on the basic necessities, your cost of living will be likely to have risen far more than your wages and your standard of living will be going backwards."
Home ownership a distant dream for many
House prices aren't included in the Consumer Price Index. If they were, it would tell a very different story.
Despite recent falls, the cost of buying a home has soared in recent decades relative to incomes, pushing the Australian dream of home ownership out of reach for many.
Soaring property prices have also created a huge debt burden.
On some measures, Australia's household debt is the highest in the world; on others, merely second to Switzerland — and that makes us vulnerable.
Martin North of Digital Finance Analytics, who has long warned about the dangers of Australia's high household debt levels, notes that mortgage "delinquencies" — the share of borrowers who aren't keeping up with required loan repayments — have risen significantly, even though the RBA's cash rate and bank lending rates are at historic lows.
"If unemployment starts to rise, that will accelerate," he says.
Australia's unprecedented levels of household debt have never been tested in a recession — but it's worth noting that in the last recession, in the early 1990s, house prices fell by in the order of 20 per cent.
If Australia were to experience mass unemployment at the levels seen back then with today's levels of household debt, Mr North is among those who fear the consequences will be dire.
DFA principal Martin North
PHOTO Martin North has long warned about the dangers of Australia's high household debt levels. ABC NEWS: BRYAN MILLISS
During the election campaign and the lead up to it, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and his colleagues boasted of "the strong economy" — a claim that was not accurate even back then.
The mantra then became that the "economy is sound". Then, as a weakening economy mugged the rhetoric, it changed to "the fundamentals are strong" — a phrase echoed by the Reserve Bank governor.
The claims don't wash with Ms Salloum.
"I can't see it," she says. "Nothing seems 'sound' or 'strong' from our point of view."
There's plenty of folks who would share her feelings.
Low productivity growth by historical standards doesn't sit well with the claims about a "sound" economy with strong fundamentals, either.
Carol Salloum
PHOTO Almond Bar restaurant owner Carol Salloum says the spending has been down over the last 12 months. ABC NEWS: BRYAN MILLISS
Mr North and Dr Stanford are among the many economists and financial analysts worried about the structure of the Australian economy, which relies heavily on two industries to sustain its momentum — mining and construction.
"Both of those sectors have gone from boom to bust and right now we have very little of the hi-tech export-oriented sectors we need to drive growth," says Dr Stanford.
Many of the new jobs being created are not in "hi-tech, export-oriented" sectors but in a suite of industries that Mr North refers to as "the bedpan economy" — labour intensive human services such as aged care, community care and health care.
"Those jobs are not necessarily productive jobs, they are important jobs but they won't tend to deliver high productivity growth," says Mr North.
"My question is where is the next generation of value in the economy going to come from?"
How long can Australia's 'resilient' economy hold on?
In the face of the undeniable weakness, Mr Frydenberg has not dropped the reference to a "strong" economy, instead describing it as "resilient".
That's a fair call; a world-record 28 years without a recession is evidence enough.
Australia's weathered the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s, the tech wreck of the 2000s, and the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago without succumbing. But that record has involved some sound management and a lot of luck.
At some stage, the luck will run out.
Alongside spluttering economic growth and households hunkering down at home, a series of risks lurk offshore — a bad Brexit, the US-China trade war, underlying problems in the Chinese economy blowing up among them.
"Any one of those could play us into a GFC 2.0," says Mr North.
"And if that happens then essentially all bets are off."
"We are going to see very high levels of unemployment, we're going to see a lot of households defaulting on their mortgages and that would have a spillover effect on the economy. That would hit the banks and take us into a very dark corner, in my view."
In recent times, it's only been population growth that's kept Australia out of recession. More people have created more demand but high immigration has also helped to suppress wages.
While the pie's been growing larger, the slices have been getting smaller (leaving aside the distribution of the pie, which is skewed towards those at the top).
Per head, living standards have fallen — a phenomenon that's been dubbed a "per capita recession".
The government and the RBA will be banking on the tax cuts which commenced in July and interest rate cuts to lift the economy out of the doldrums. If we're lucky, things may start to turn around.
But if the luck runs out, there could be far worse to come.
Posted earlier today at 3:34am
An image showing a stack of IOU post-it notes and an Australian flag
PHOTO The data says that Australians are being more careful with their money than they have for nearly 20 years. ABC NEWS: ALISTAIR KROIE
On a warm weeknight, Carol Salloum greets a couple of regulars at her restaurant, Almond Bar, in Sydney's inner eastern suburbs.
A year or so back, the popular Syrian eatery would have been full. Tonight, empty tables are a sign of the times.
And it's not just that custom is down; spending is slimmer, even among loyal guests.
"I mean, we've been here now for 12 years and the last 12 months have probably been the most difficult by way of customers not spending," Ms Salloum says.
"You know, rather than two people getting a bottle of wine, they are getting a glass of wine each, that kind of thing. They are thinking twice about where their money is going."
Almond Bar restaurant in Sydney
PHOTO Empty tables are a sign of the times at the Almond Bar restaurant in Sydney. ABC NEWS: BRYAN MILLISS
It's no isolated case.
Consumers aren't quite on strike, but there's definitely a consumer go-slow
"At one point I thought we were going into a recession, to be honest but I'd say [it's] somewhere before that," Ms Salloum says.
"Very weak; it doesn't look great from a business point of view."
Her assessment is on the money.
According to the official estimate from the ABS, Australia's economy expanded at an annual pace of just 1.4 per cent in the last quarter — the slowest rate of economic growth since the global financial crisis.
You have to back nearly 20 years to find a weaker result — in the year 2000 when the GST was introduced. Leave that one-off event aside, and the economy is the weakest it's been since the early 1990s.
Wage growth remains a massive issue
Parlous consumption was one of the big drags on the economy, which is not surprising, considering what's been happening with wages growth.
It's been woeful.
"The last six years has been the worst period for wages growth since the Second World War," says Jim Stanford, chief economist and director of The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.
"Wages have grown so slowly it's undermined consumption, it's undermined job creation and it's contributed to Australia being the most indebted consumers of almost any country in the world."
The wage price index has managed to pull ahead of consumer price rises. But only because — reflecting the weakness in the economy — the inflation rate is extraordinarily low.
If it doesn't feel like your cost of living is falling, though — and you're scratching your head at the talk of wages beating price rises — there may be a good reason.
The price of many necessities of life — food, healthcare, electricity and other utilities — has risen strongly over many years, far outpacing average wage gains.
But the "basket of goods and services" that make up the consumer price index also includes stuff most of us only buy now and again, and people on tight budgets might just forgo: the latest smartphone, for example, or a new whiz-bang laptop, the latest fashion clothing, or international travel.
A graphic comparing wage growth to inflation
PHOTO A comparison of wage growth and prices over the last decade. ABC NEWS: ALISTAIR KROIE
These luxury items ("discretionary spending" in economist speak) are what's bringing down the inflation rate — either because such goods and services fall in price outright or because they cost the same or not much more for better quality are a recorded as price falls under the ABS's measures.
It means, in effect, that there's a bias towards the well-off and people with a lot of disposable income in the cost of living.
"It all depends on what you buy," says Dr Stanford.
"The reality is that the price of many household essentials has been rising much faster than wages."
"So, if you can afford to spend a lot of your income on luxuries, your inflation rate may well be lower than average, but if you spend most of your income goes on the basic necessities, your cost of living will be likely to have risen far more than your wages and your standard of living will be going backwards."
Home ownership a distant dream for many
House prices aren't included in the Consumer Price Index. If they were, it would tell a very different story.
Despite recent falls, the cost of buying a home has soared in recent decades relative to incomes, pushing the Australian dream of home ownership out of reach for many.
Soaring property prices have also created a huge debt burden.
On some measures, Australia's household debt is the highest in the world; on others, merely second to Switzerland — and that makes us vulnerable.
Martin North of Digital Finance Analytics, who has long warned about the dangers of Australia's high household debt levels, notes that mortgage "delinquencies" — the share of borrowers who aren't keeping up with required loan repayments — have risen significantly, even though the RBA's cash rate and bank lending rates are at historic lows.
"If unemployment starts to rise, that will accelerate," he says.
Australia's unprecedented levels of household debt have never been tested in a recession — but it's worth noting that in the last recession, in the early 1990s, house prices fell by in the order of 20 per cent.
If Australia were to experience mass unemployment at the levels seen back then with today's levels of household debt, Mr North is among those who fear the consequences will be dire.
DFA principal Martin North
PHOTO Martin North has long warned about the dangers of Australia's high household debt levels. ABC NEWS: BRYAN MILLISS
During the election campaign and the lead up to it, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and his colleagues boasted of "the strong economy" — a claim that was not accurate even back then.
The mantra then became that the "economy is sound". Then, as a weakening economy mugged the rhetoric, it changed to "the fundamentals are strong" — a phrase echoed by the Reserve Bank governor.
The claims don't wash with Ms Salloum.
"I can't see it," she says. "Nothing seems 'sound' or 'strong' from our point of view."
There's plenty of folks who would share her feelings.
Low productivity growth by historical standards doesn't sit well with the claims about a "sound" economy with strong fundamentals, either.
Carol Salloum
PHOTO Almond Bar restaurant owner Carol Salloum says the spending has been down over the last 12 months. ABC NEWS: BRYAN MILLISS
Mr North and Dr Stanford are among the many economists and financial analysts worried about the structure of the Australian economy, which relies heavily on two industries to sustain its momentum — mining and construction.
"Both of those sectors have gone from boom to bust and right now we have very little of the hi-tech export-oriented sectors we need to drive growth," says Dr Stanford.
Many of the new jobs being created are not in "hi-tech, export-oriented" sectors but in a suite of industries that Mr North refers to as "the bedpan economy" — labour intensive human services such as aged care, community care and health care.
"Those jobs are not necessarily productive jobs, they are important jobs but they won't tend to deliver high productivity growth," says Mr North.
"My question is where is the next generation of value in the economy going to come from?"
How long can Australia's 'resilient' economy hold on?
In the face of the undeniable weakness, Mr Frydenberg has not dropped the reference to a "strong" economy, instead describing it as "resilient".
That's a fair call; a world-record 28 years without a recession is evidence enough.
Australia's weathered the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s, the tech wreck of the 2000s, and the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago without succumbing. But that record has involved some sound management and a lot of luck.
At some stage, the luck will run out.
Alongside spluttering economic growth and households hunkering down at home, a series of risks lurk offshore — a bad Brexit, the US-China trade war, underlying problems in the Chinese economy blowing up among them.
"Any one of those could play us into a GFC 2.0," says Mr North.
"And if that happens then essentially all bets are off."
"We are going to see very high levels of unemployment, we're going to see a lot of households defaulting on their mortgages and that would have a spillover effect on the economy. That would hit the banks and take us into a very dark corner, in my view."
In recent times, it's only been population growth that's kept Australia out of recession. More people have created more demand but high immigration has also helped to suppress wages.
While the pie's been growing larger, the slices have been getting smaller (leaving aside the distribution of the pie, which is skewed towards those at the top).
Per head, living standards have fallen — a phenomenon that's been dubbed a "per capita recession".
The government and the RBA will be banking on the tax cuts which commenced in July and interest rate cuts to lift the economy out of the doldrums. If we're lucky, things may start to turn around.
But if the luck runs out, there could be far worse to come.
Posted earlier today at 3:34am
Like what happened in South Africa?
Still lots of whites in South Africa. Not Zimbabwe though.
The decline of Australia is due to Conservatism. High debt is due to generous tax cuts given by the CON government to business and the well off. The middle class gets crap.
The decline of Australia is due to the bs spending policies of left wing bleeding heart liberal faggot loving fuckwits who ask tax payers to spend on outsiders instead of investing on their own.
Facing deportation, a three-year-old boy with disabilities is now in limbo
Three-year-old Kayban Jamshaad is facing deportation from Australia because of the cost of his health care.
Updated
Updated 29/08/2019
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Kayban Jamshaad was born in a Western Australian hospital in July 2016 and diagnosed with severe haemophilia and an acquired brain injury caused during delivery.
He had previously been denied a temporary visa on the grounds that his medical needs might place an undue cost on Australian taxpayers and faces deportation to his parents’ country of the Maldives.
A hearing at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Perth on Thursday heard detailed evidence of Kayban’s medical condition, associated costs, and the availability of treatment both in Australia and the Maldives.
The matter was heard by senior member Kate Millar who told the family she would consider the case afresh and independently of the department’s previous decision.
But the appeal hearing was derailed when Ms Millar said it was not clear whether the AAT had legal jurisdiction to challenge decisions made by the Department of Home Affairs, due to recent changes to the Migration Act.
READ MORE
“There was a change to the migration act around the time the request for review was lodged,” the family’s migration agent Jan Gothard said.
“This may have implications in terms of the capacity of the AAT to conduct a review and make a decision.”
Ms Millar will take seven days to receive submissions and consider whether the matter is reviewable under Section 338 of the Migration Act.
The section was amended around the time Kayban’s visa application was rejected in December 2018.
READ MORE
The hearing proceeded as scheduled, and if the review is conducted, the AAT will consider the evidence and arguments presented on Thursday.
During the three-hour hearing, Kayban’s mother Shizleen Aisath told the tribunal her son’s medical needs were complex, and his situation could rapidly deteriorate if he were denied adequate care.
She provided written statements from medical practitioners both in Australia and the Maldives as evidence that the level of healthcare was not available in the Maldives to treat Kayban.
“He would die prematurely, that is our concern,” she said.
Ms Aishath, is employed fulltime as a social worker, under a Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482).
But while Ms Aishath, her husband and two other children were granted visas, her youngest son was rejected on the grounds that his medical costs would be a burden on the Australian taxpayer.
“Kayban cannot go home alone, he’s only 3 years old,” Ms Aishath told the tribunal.
“We need to be looked at as a family unit. As a family, we’re able to meet the needs of Kayban, our other children and live a decent life. We just want an opportunity to spend time with him.”
Australia’s migration regulations state that a visa applicant’s health care costs must not exceed $49,000 over the period of the visa.
Ms Aishath told the tribunal that she and her husband were paying for Kayban’s medical costs privately.
Dr Gothard told the tribunal that as Kayban’s condition was caused during his birth at a West Australian hospital, the Department’s decision not to grant the visa should be waived on compassionate grounds.
The appeal will continue after seven days, once the AAT has confirmed it has legal jurisdiction tor review decisions by the department of Home Affairs.
If the appeal is unsuccessful, Kayban will then need to rely on a direct appeal to the Minister for Immigration David Coleman to intervene.
Topics:
Should ask the Malays to get out of Malaysia ... the land belong to orang asli. This is what happened to uncontrolled parasite explosion. NZ should cull all these parasites.
IQ and Race
IQ and Race
The decline of Australia is due to the bs spending policies of left wing bleeding heart liberal faggot loving fuckwits who ask tax payers to spend on outsiders instead of investing on their own.
Facing deportation, a three-year-old boy with disabilities is now in limbo
Three-year-old Kayban Jamshaad is facing deportation from Australia because of the cost of his health care.
Updated
Updated 29/08/2019
A tribunal will decide whether it has legal jurisdiction to overturn a decision by the Department of Home Affairs to deny a visa to a three-year-old boy with disabilities, before conducting a review of the case.
- Share on Facebook
- Share on Twitter
Kayban Jamshaad was born in a Western Australian hospital in July 2016 and diagnosed with severe haemophilia and an acquired brain injury caused during delivery.
He had previously been denied a temporary visa on the grounds that his medical needs might place an undue cost on Australian taxpayers and faces deportation to his parents’ country of the Maldives.
A hearing at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Perth on Thursday heard detailed evidence of Kayban’s medical condition, associated costs, and the availability of treatment both in Australia and the Maldives.
The matter was heard by senior member Kate Millar who told the family she would consider the case afresh and independently of the department’s previous decision.
But the appeal hearing was derailed when Ms Millar said it was not clear whether the AAT had legal jurisdiction to challenge decisions made by the Department of Home Affairs, due to recent changes to the Migration Act.
READ MORE
Family facing deportation from Australia due to son's disability fear he could die if they leave
“There was a change to the migration act around the time the request for review was lodged,” the family’s migration agent Jan Gothard said.
“This may have implications in terms of the capacity of the AAT to conduct a review and make a decision.”
Ms Millar will take seven days to receive submissions and consider whether the matter is reviewable under Section 338 of the Migration Act.
The section was amended around the time Kayban’s visa application was rejected in December 2018.
READ MORE
Australian airlines urged not to deport Tamil family from Biloela
The hearing proceeded as scheduled, and if the review is conducted, the AAT will consider the evidence and arguments presented on Thursday.
During the three-hour hearing, Kayban’s mother Shizleen Aisath told the tribunal her son’s medical needs were complex, and his situation could rapidly deteriorate if he were denied adequate care.
She provided written statements from medical practitioners both in Australia and the Maldives as evidence that the level of healthcare was not available in the Maldives to treat Kayban.
“He would die prematurely, that is our concern,” she said.
Ms Aishath, is employed fulltime as a social worker, under a Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482).
But while Ms Aishath, her husband and two other children were granted visas, her youngest son was rejected on the grounds that his medical costs would be a burden on the Australian taxpayer.
“Kayban cannot go home alone, he’s only 3 years old,” Ms Aishath told the tribunal.
“We need to be looked at as a family unit. As a family, we’re able to meet the needs of Kayban, our other children and live a decent life. We just want an opportunity to spend time with him.”
Australia’s migration regulations state that a visa applicant’s health care costs must not exceed $49,000 over the period of the visa.
Ms Aishath told the tribunal that she and her husband were paying for Kayban’s medical costs privately.
Dr Gothard told the tribunal that as Kayban’s condition was caused during his birth at a West Australian hospital, the Department’s decision not to grant the visa should be waived on compassionate grounds.
The appeal will continue after seven days, once the AAT has confirmed it has legal jurisdiction tor review decisions by the department of Home Affairs.
If the appeal is unsuccessful, Kayban will then need to rely on a direct appeal to the Minister for Immigration David Coleman to intervene.
Topics:
You forgot that CONs (in Australia, they are the Liberal Party) were running the country for most of the decade. The money spent on refugees is a pittance compared to the tax breaks given to business.
The problems with CONs is that they mess up the country and then the progressives come in to clean up the mess.
The only parasites are from china. Massive similarity to locusts in terms of numbers, breeding and behaviour. Thats what hongkies used to call chinese from the mainland, no?
Not because of allah akhbar stabbing? Just weeks ago
Exactly..look at Hurstville, St.George now! Infestation of Chinese mainlanders!
Migrants line up to "game" Australia's visa system
Over the past week, we have witnessed more evidence that Australia’s visa system is being systematically rorted.
Last weekend, The Australian reported that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has become overrun, due in part to bogus applications for asylum from migrants that have arrived in Australia by plane:
The backlog of active cases has grown from 17,480 to 62,476 and is getting worse each month. Even if each case involved only one person, the total number of people would equal the population of Wagga Wagga in NSW or Shepparton in Victoria…
An AAT spokeswoman said the increase in new applications was due to higher demand for reviews of government decisions.
Migration and refugee cases cost between $2137 and $3036 per review.
“The AAT’s Migration and Refugee Division has not been able to keep pace with the growth in demand for reviews due to the high number of applications received in previous years without a similar increase in the number of member resources,” the AAT spokeswoman said.
Labor’s immigration spokesperson, Kristina Keneally, recently lashed the massive blowout of asylum seekers gaining entry into Australia by plane, which she claimed was being fuelled by “criminal syndicates” and “people smugglers”:
[Keneally said] the Coalition’s fixation on the boats has allowed weakness to develop at airports – invoking, for example, the 81,596 people who have arrived by plane and claimed asylum since 1 July 2014. “Peter Dutton has failed to notice that criminal syndicates that people smugglers have shifted their business model from boats to planes”…
Another question being pursued is whether Australia’s migration system is being used by criminal syndicates and labour hire companies to traffic exploited workers into Australia.
Various migration experts raised similar concerns:
“Organised crime are indeed facilitating unlawful migration on a fee-for-service basis, using methodologies from fake identity documents, to gaming Australia’s visa system,” [John Coyne, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s head of border security] said…
Former deputy secretary of the department of immigration and border protection Abul Rizvi said the “eye watering” blowout in bridging visa numbers indicated a “sick system”.
“The people we’re talking about are generally vulnerable people. They will have little financial resources, and they are being exploited – they’re being exploited by criminals, and they’re being exploited by unscrupulous labour hire companies”.
As has former High Court justice, Ian Callinan:
[Ian Callinan] said “almost everyone” with migration law experience had told him there were applicants and representatives who “game the system, well knowing there is an automatic entitlement to a bridging visa”…
The hard data illustrating the “gaming” is the blowout in temporary bridging visas, which are typically given to migrants awaiting decisions on applications for permanent residency, and are considered a broad indicator of the robustness and efficiency of the visa system.
As shown in the next chart, the number of bridging visas on issue have roughly doubled under the Coalition’s term in government, to more than 200,000 as at June 2019:
As we already know, state-based and regional migration programs have also been systemically gamed, with migrants temporarily settling in regional areas and smaller capital cities purely to get the required number of points for permanent residency before moving to Sydney and Melbourne.
In fact, recent ANU research of settlement patterns revealed that 60% of migrants that moved to Australia’s regions subsequently move to capital cities within five years:
An Australian National University study released Thursday found more than 60 per cent of migrants move to a capital city after about five years of living in a regional or remote location.
ANU material went as far as saying new migrants were “fleeing” regional Australia for better opportunities in the cities…
ANU demographer Bernard Baffour told SBS News, “you can move migrants to areas, but you can’t force them to stay there”…
The study found Chinese-born migrants are more likely to settle in Sydney… Melbourne is the city of choice for most Indian-born migrants.
Not surprisingly, migrants are now lining-up to use the Morrison Government’s new regional visas as an easy pathway towards permanent residency, presumably before moving to Sydney and Melbourne:
“One of the key reasons that migrants want to come to Australia is the promise of permanent residency” [Immigration Minister David Coleman, said]…
Registered migration agent Rohit Mohan says… “There is a lot of interest in these new visas… We do not have the details of the new regional visas yet but many hope that criteria to apply for those visas will be a bit relaxed than the general skilled migration. Many are eagerly looking forward it as it might be their only opportunity to get PR”…
Short of placing electronic ankle tags on migrants, how can the Morrison Government’s regional migration push be successful when it has failed repeatedly in the past, with the visa system systematically gamed? It cannot.
The truth is that Australia’s border contains more holes than a block of Swiss Cheese, with many avenues available to game the visa system. These include, but are not limited to:
Migrants travelling to Australia on tourist visas and subsequently claiming asylum;
Students undertaking ‘mickey mouse’ courses for working rights and permanent residency;
People smugglers, criminal syndicates and illegal labour hire companies facilitating undocumented migrants to work at below market wages; and
Employers hiring migrant workers en masse under the ruse of ‘skills shortages’, in a bid to slash wage costs and undercut Australian workers.
The list goes on and is evidenced by the chronic infrastructure bottlenecks, rampant wage theft, and overall falling living standards manifested across Australia.
Over the past week, we have witnessed more evidence that Australia’s visa system is being systematically rorted.
Last weekend, The Australian reported that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has become overrun, due in part to bogus applications for asylum from migrants that have arrived in Australia by plane:
The backlog of active cases has grown from 17,480 to 62,476 and is getting worse each month. Even if each case involved only one person, the total number of people would equal the population of Wagga Wagga in NSW or Shepparton in Victoria…
An AAT spokeswoman said the increase in new applications was due to higher demand for reviews of government decisions.
Migration and refugee cases cost between $2137 and $3036 per review.
“The AAT’s Migration and Refugee Division has not been able to keep pace with the growth in demand for reviews due to the high number of applications received in previous years without a similar increase in the number of member resources,” the AAT spokeswoman said.
Labor’s immigration spokesperson, Kristina Keneally, recently lashed the massive blowout of asylum seekers gaining entry into Australia by plane, which she claimed was being fuelled by “criminal syndicates” and “people smugglers”:
[Keneally said] the Coalition’s fixation on the boats has allowed weakness to develop at airports – invoking, for example, the 81,596 people who have arrived by plane and claimed asylum since 1 July 2014. “Peter Dutton has failed to notice that criminal syndicates that people smugglers have shifted their business model from boats to planes”…
Another question being pursued is whether Australia’s migration system is being used by criminal syndicates and labour hire companies to traffic exploited workers into Australia.
Various migration experts raised similar concerns:
“Organised crime are indeed facilitating unlawful migration on a fee-for-service basis, using methodologies from fake identity documents, to gaming Australia’s visa system,” [John Coyne, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s head of border security] said…
Former deputy secretary of the department of immigration and border protection Abul Rizvi said the “eye watering” blowout in bridging visa numbers indicated a “sick system”.
“The people we’re talking about are generally vulnerable people. They will have little financial resources, and they are being exploited – they’re being exploited by criminals, and they’re being exploited by unscrupulous labour hire companies”.
As has former High Court justice, Ian Callinan:
[Ian Callinan] said “almost everyone” with migration law experience had told him there were applicants and representatives who “game the system, well knowing there is an automatic entitlement to a bridging visa”…
The hard data illustrating the “gaming” is the blowout in temporary bridging visas, which are typically given to migrants awaiting decisions on applications for permanent residency, and are considered a broad indicator of the robustness and efficiency of the visa system.
As shown in the next chart, the number of bridging visas on issue have roughly doubled under the Coalition’s term in government, to more than 200,000 as at June 2019:
As we already know, state-based and regional migration programs have also been systemically gamed, with migrants temporarily settling in regional areas and smaller capital cities purely to get the required number of points for permanent residency before moving to Sydney and Melbourne.
In fact, recent ANU research of settlement patterns revealed that 60% of migrants that moved to Australia’s regions subsequently move to capital cities within five years:
An Australian National University study released Thursday found more than 60 per cent of migrants move to a capital city after about five years of living in a regional or remote location.
ANU material went as far as saying new migrants were “fleeing” regional Australia for better opportunities in the cities…
ANU demographer Bernard Baffour told SBS News, “you can move migrants to areas, but you can’t force them to stay there”…
The study found Chinese-born migrants are more likely to settle in Sydney… Melbourne is the city of choice for most Indian-born migrants.
Not surprisingly, migrants are now lining-up to use the Morrison Government’s new regional visas as an easy pathway towards permanent residency, presumably before moving to Sydney and Melbourne:
“One of the key reasons that migrants want to come to Australia is the promise of permanent residency” [Immigration Minister David Coleman, said]…
Registered migration agent Rohit Mohan says… “There is a lot of interest in these new visas… We do not have the details of the new regional visas yet but many hope that criteria to apply for those visas will be a bit relaxed than the general skilled migration. Many are eagerly looking forward it as it might be their only opportunity to get PR”…
Short of placing electronic ankle tags on migrants, how can the Morrison Government’s regional migration push be successful when it has failed repeatedly in the past, with the visa system systematically gamed? It cannot.
The truth is that Australia’s border contains more holes than a block of Swiss Cheese, with many avenues available to game the visa system. These include, but are not limited to:
Migrants travelling to Australia on tourist visas and subsequently claiming asylum;
Students undertaking ‘mickey mouse’ courses for working rights and permanent residency;
People smugglers, criminal syndicates and illegal labour hire companies facilitating undocumented migrants to work at below market wages; and
Employers hiring migrant workers en masse under the ruse of ‘skills shortages’, in a bid to slash wage costs and undercut Australian workers.
The list goes on and is evidenced by the chronic infrastructure bottlenecks, rampant wage theft, and overall falling living standards manifested across Australia.
In Tarneit on Melbourne's fringe, the Australian dream has become a suburban nightmare
Binod Bahadur, in a black jacket and Namrata Bahadur, in a black top, inside their home.
PHOTO Binod and Namrata Bahadur say they feel trapped in their new outer-Melbourne home. ABC NEWS: ELIAS CLURE
When the Bahadur family moved into their new home in Melbourne's booming outer west four months ago, they dreamed of suburban bliss. But it turned out to be a nightmare.
"We feel cheated," Binod Bahadur said.
"We bought this land on the promise that we will have a dedicated train station, and a bus stop within 300 metres of this development. But it looks like that was all a false promise."
Their home is in Tarneit, one of Melbourne's fastest-growing fringe suburbs.
Getting to and from the city, where one in five Tarneit residents work, can take up to two hours each way by car or train.
Tarneit Station opened just over four years ago and quickly became the second-busiest V/Line station in Victoria, with a car park that overflows by 7:00am each weekday.
Follow this story to get email or text alerts from ABC News when there is a future article following this storyline.
Wyndham City Council collects tens of thousands of dollars in fines for those who have no option but to leave their cars wherever they can.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Video 3:11
Commuters at Tarneit rush to their cars, hoping to avoid getting stuck in traffic.
ABC News
Each afternoon, returning commuters run from the train to be first to their cars to avoid getting caught in the gridlock on the way out.
Another 400 parking spaces have been promised, but Tarneit resident Arnav Sati said that is "not going to do a damn thing".
The alternative — driving to work — is no better. The roads are being widened, but it is unlikely to be enough. The area's population is expected to double by 2036.
Arnav Sati, in a black jacket and scarf, stands at the front of the Tarneit V/Line train station.
PHOTO Arnav Sati said he was concerned the suburb's large migrant population would be neglected. ABC NEWS: PETER DROUGHT
Warnings of a 'modern slum'
The ABC's Australia Talks National Survey revealed the federal electorate of Lalor, which includes Tarneit, is one of the least happy in Australia.
It topped the list for residents who would be happier if they spent less time commuting.
It is a common picture across much of Australia's outer suburbs.
Sydney's biggest growth has been in the suburbs of Riverstone and Marsden Park — about 50 kilometres west of the CBD — which the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said grew by more than 23 per cent between 2017 and 2018.
And while the outer suburbs are booming, ABS data shows the jobs are not moving with the population, with the majority of people still working in city centres across the country.
Bronwen Clark, the executive officer of the National Growth Areas Alliance, warned major infrastructure "can take a generation to catch up" with populations.
"Unfortunately it's very common," she said.
"We see examples similar to the Tarneit situation, where train lines have been promised, there are no local buses or they take years to come, the freeway hasn't been extended … that's happening right across growth areas around Australia."
Giphy: Melbourne has expanded steadily into areas that were once farmland.
Pause GIF
Melbourne has expanded steadily into areas that were once farmland.
The Bahadurs said they felt trapped in their new home.
"It's already a nightmare," Ms Bahadur said.
"But it will be a big chaos [if more people move here] because it will be inconvenient for everyone [to] live, kids can't go to school or university, to the city or to western suburbs," she said.
Land in Tarneit is now selling for less than the Bahadurs paid for their block.
Construction on a promised train station in West Tarneit, closer to their home, is slated to start in two years and be completed by 2027.
"People have realised that there is no train station here. There's not going to be a train station here. So that has brought down the value of the property," Mr Bahadur said.
"There is no charm in buying here anymore."
Waiting for a bus that never comes
Imran Arshad, in a brown jumper, stands on the footpath near a sign saying 'bus zone' on a sunny day.
PHOTO Although there are spots marked as a "bus zone", there is no bus route to service Imran Arshad's area. ABC NEWS: ELIAS CLURE
There are stops marked out for new bus routes across Tarneit, but no-one here knows if, or when, the buses will ever come.
Imran Arshad has a "ghost stop" around the corner from his house.
The promise of a bus route was why he bought there, but instead he walks 30 minutes each way to the closest bus — the first leg of a two-hour commute to the city.
"I guess this is how developers work," he said.
"They can't give timelines, but they do give you the expectations."
Imran Arshad, in a brown jumper and glasses, stands outside his house with a slight smile.
PHOTO Imran Arshad moved to Tarneit from nearby Truganina in the hope it would be easier for him to get to work in the city. ABC NEWS: ELIAS CLURE
Demographer James O'Donnell, from the Australian National University, said the way rapid growth had been handled in Australia's major cities was "very uneven".
He said while there was often "strong partnerships" between governments and developers, in other areas the infrastructure to support the population took too long to come in.
Mr O'Donnell said the demographics of many growing suburbs were shifting quickly too. In Tarneit, 19 per cent of the population is of Indian heritage.
"There's a whole community infrastructure that has to come in with that to try and create some cohesion within these communities, and create these liveable environments for the growing population," Mr O'Donnell said.
Green pasture in the foreground with a hosing development and Melbourne's skyline in the background.
PHOTO Tarneit is about 30 kilometres from Melbourne's CBD. ABC NEWS: GEMMA HALL
At Aurora estate in Epping North, it took 11 years for a bus route to start running.
Back in 2006, homebuyers there were told the train would arrive within 10 years. It has not.
The timeline has now pushed out to at least another 15 years, and there is no longer the promise of a train — only "transport links".
Victoria's Department of Transport said it was working to meet the increased demand for public transport "by planning new and extended bus routes, more frequent trains and new rail links which better connect people right across Melbourne's outer west".
"Tarneit locals have access to 627 V/Line services to and from Melbourne every week to keep pace with growing demand," a department spokesperson said.
The Australia Talks National Survey asked 54,000 Australians about their lives and what keeps them up at night. Use our interactive tool to see the results and how their answers compare with yours.
Then, tune in at 8.30pm on November 18, as the ABC hosts a live TV event with some of Australia's best-loved celebrities exploring the key findings of the Australia Talks National Survey.
Australia Talks banner
Posted earlier today at 3:02am
Binod Bahadur, in a black jacket and Namrata Bahadur, in a black top, inside their home.
PHOTO Binod and Namrata Bahadur say they feel trapped in their new outer-Melbourne home. ABC NEWS: ELIAS CLURE
When the Bahadur family moved into their new home in Melbourne's booming outer west four months ago, they dreamed of suburban bliss. But it turned out to be a nightmare.
"We feel cheated," Binod Bahadur said.
"We bought this land on the promise that we will have a dedicated train station, and a bus stop within 300 metres of this development. But it looks like that was all a false promise."
Their home is in Tarneit, one of Melbourne's fastest-growing fringe suburbs.
Getting to and from the city, where one in five Tarneit residents work, can take up to two hours each way by car or train.
Tarneit Station opened just over four years ago and quickly became the second-busiest V/Line station in Victoria, with a car park that overflows by 7:00am each weekday.
Follow this story to get email or text alerts from ABC News when there is a future article following this storyline.
Wyndham City Council collects tens of thousands of dollars in fines for those who have no option but to leave their cars wherever they can.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Video 3:11
Commuters at Tarneit rush to their cars, hoping to avoid getting stuck in traffic.
ABC News
Each afternoon, returning commuters run from the train to be first to their cars to avoid getting caught in the gridlock on the way out.
Another 400 parking spaces have been promised, but Tarneit resident Arnav Sati said that is "not going to do a damn thing".
The alternative — driving to work — is no better. The roads are being widened, but it is unlikely to be enough. The area's population is expected to double by 2036.
Arnav Sati, in a black jacket and scarf, stands at the front of the Tarneit V/Line train station.
PHOTO Arnav Sati said he was concerned the suburb's large migrant population would be neglected. ABC NEWS: PETER DROUGHT
Warnings of a 'modern slum'
The ABC's Australia Talks National Survey revealed the federal electorate of Lalor, which includes Tarneit, is one of the least happy in Australia.
It topped the list for residents who would be happier if they spent less time commuting.
It is a common picture across much of Australia's outer suburbs.
Sydney's biggest growth has been in the suburbs of Riverstone and Marsden Park — about 50 kilometres west of the CBD — which the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said grew by more than 23 per cent between 2017 and 2018.
And while the outer suburbs are booming, ABS data shows the jobs are not moving with the population, with the majority of people still working in city centres across the country.
Bronwen Clark, the executive officer of the National Growth Areas Alliance, warned major infrastructure "can take a generation to catch up" with populations.
"Unfortunately it's very common," she said.
"We see examples similar to the Tarneit situation, where train lines have been promised, there are no local buses or they take years to come, the freeway hasn't been extended … that's happening right across growth areas around Australia."
Giphy: Melbourne has expanded steadily into areas that were once farmland.
Pause GIF
Melbourne has expanded steadily into areas that were once farmland.
The Bahadurs said they felt trapped in their new home.
"It's already a nightmare," Ms Bahadur said.
"But it will be a big chaos [if more people move here] because it will be inconvenient for everyone [to] live, kids can't go to school or university, to the city or to western suburbs," she said.
Land in Tarneit is now selling for less than the Bahadurs paid for their block.
Construction on a promised train station in West Tarneit, closer to their home, is slated to start in two years and be completed by 2027.
"People have realised that there is no train station here. There's not going to be a train station here. So that has brought down the value of the property," Mr Bahadur said.
"There is no charm in buying here anymore."
Waiting for a bus that never comes
Imran Arshad, in a brown jumper, stands on the footpath near a sign saying 'bus zone' on a sunny day.
PHOTO Although there are spots marked as a "bus zone", there is no bus route to service Imran Arshad's area. ABC NEWS: ELIAS CLURE
There are stops marked out for new bus routes across Tarneit, but no-one here knows if, or when, the buses will ever come.
Imran Arshad has a "ghost stop" around the corner from his house.
The promise of a bus route was why he bought there, but instead he walks 30 minutes each way to the closest bus — the first leg of a two-hour commute to the city.
"I guess this is how developers work," he said.
"They can't give timelines, but they do give you the expectations."
Imran Arshad, in a brown jumper and glasses, stands outside his house with a slight smile.
PHOTO Imran Arshad moved to Tarneit from nearby Truganina in the hope it would be easier for him to get to work in the city. ABC NEWS: ELIAS CLURE
Demographer James O'Donnell, from the Australian National University, said the way rapid growth had been handled in Australia's major cities was "very uneven".
He said while there was often "strong partnerships" between governments and developers, in other areas the infrastructure to support the population took too long to come in.
Mr O'Donnell said the demographics of many growing suburbs were shifting quickly too. In Tarneit, 19 per cent of the population is of Indian heritage.
"There's a whole community infrastructure that has to come in with that to try and create some cohesion within these communities, and create these liveable environments for the growing population," Mr O'Donnell said.
Green pasture in the foreground with a hosing development and Melbourne's skyline in the background.
PHOTO Tarneit is about 30 kilometres from Melbourne's CBD. ABC NEWS: GEMMA HALL
At Aurora estate in Epping North, it took 11 years for a bus route to start running.
Back in 2006, homebuyers there were told the train would arrive within 10 years. It has not.
The timeline has now pushed out to at least another 15 years, and there is no longer the promise of a train — only "transport links".
Victoria's Department of Transport said it was working to meet the increased demand for public transport "by planning new and extended bus routes, more frequent trains and new rail links which better connect people right across Melbourne's outer west".
"Tarneit locals have access to 627 V/Line services to and from Melbourne every week to keep pace with growing demand," a department spokesperson said.
The Australia Talks National Survey asked 54,000 Australians about their lives and what keeps them up at night. Use our interactive tool to see the results and how their answers compare with yours.
Then, tune in at 8.30pm on November 18, as the ABC hosts a live TV event with some of Australia's best-loved celebrities exploring the key findings of the Australia Talks National Survey.
Australia Talks banner
Posted earlier today at 3:02am
No Australian city has a long-term vision for living sustainably. We can't go on like this - Analysis & Opinion
Analysis The Conversation By Mike Berry and Ian LoweUpdated Tue at 5:09am
PHOTO International and internal migration trends have driven rapid growth in big cities like Melbourne. ABC NEWS: JANE COWAN
Australia was already one of the most urbanised nations by the end of the 19th century.
Unlike European and North American countries, Australia's pattern of settlement did not have a neat urban hierarchy. The gap between the large and small towns was huge.
These patterns have intensified in the decades since federation, especially after the World War II.
International and internal migration trends have driven rapid growth in the big cities, especially Melbourne and Sydney. This has created major problems with providing adequate housing, infrastructure and services.
The fundamental issue is the reluctance of urban communities and their leaders to discuss what might be sustainable populations.
Follow this story to get email or text alerts from ABC News when there is a future article following this storyline.
The folly of unlimited growth
No Australian city has a long-term vision showing how a future stabilised population might be supported with the essential resources of food, water and energy. No Australian city has faced up to the inevitable social tensions of increasing inequality between a well-served inner-urban elite and an increasingly under-resourced urban fringe.
Leaders in cities that have not grown as rapidly, such as Adelaide, lament their failure to grow like Sydney and Melbourne, despite all the associated problems. All implicitly believe unlimited growth is possible.
In reality, the expanding ecological footprints of the large cities have created unsustainable demands on land to support urban dwellers.
And the wastes the cities produce are straining the capacity of the environment to handle these.
Given the many unpriced flow-on effects from dense urban growth and market-led development, governments are struggling to deal with the undesirable consequences.
Congestion and pollution threaten to overwhelm the many social and economic benefits of urban life.
The growth and concentration of populations are also driving chronic excess demand for appropriate housing. The result is serious affordability problems, which are adding to inequality across society and generations.
In 1970, urban historian Hugh Stretton pointed to the role of Australia's widespread owner occupation in offsetting the inequalities generated in labour markets and by inherited wealth. This is no longer the case.
The dominant neoliberal economic ideology has resulted in a retreat from providing public housing.
Abandoning would-be home owners to the market has produced a situation in which urban land and house ownership is reinforcing class-based inequalities.
PHOTO Home ownership is increasingly the preserve of the affluent and their children. REUTERS: DAVID GRAY
Home ownership is increasingly the preserve of the affluent and their children.
Housing-related inequality is also seen in the geography of our cities.
Poorer households are priced out of locations with better access to good jobs, schools, transport, health care and other services.
Failures of governance
Governments in Australia's federation are poorly placed to respond adequately. Responsibilities and fiscal resources are divided, creating obstacles to effective planning and infrastructure provision.
The main factor driving urban population growth is an unprecedented rate of inward migration.
The national government sets large migration targets as an easy way of creating economic growth. This leaves state governments with the impossible task of meeting the resulting demand for infrastructure.
Jane O'Sullivan has shown each extra urban citizen requires about $250,000 of investment. The total sum is well beyond the capacity of state and local governments.
Arguments between federal and state governments are heavily politicised, especially when it comes to major transport investments.
Even within single jurisdictions, complex demands and unexpected consequences prevent effective action. The waste recycling crisis is a prime example.
State governments must also deal with difficult trade-offs between, for example, allowing further development on the edges of cities or encouraging higher density in built-up areas.
This often involves conflicts with local governments and communities, concerned to protect their ways of life.
PHOTO The main factor driving urban population growth is an unprecedented rate of inward migration. SUPPLIED: LINKING MELBOURNE AUTHORITY
Australian planners and governments have long tinkered with policies to encourage decentralisation to smaller cities.
Despite these attempts, the dominant pattern of urbanisation with its seemingly intractable problems has hardened, a triumph of reality over rhetoric.
What needs to change?
To get beyond the rhetoric and make our cities more sustainably liveable requires a much more deliberate and interventionist role for government.
It also requires residents of our cities and suburbs to be willing to allow their governments to interrupt business as usual.
This, we know from experience, is a big ask. It will step on the toes of the property lobby and ordinary home owners.
In some cases, for example, the short-term financial interests of property owners are leading local authorities to ignore scientific warnings about the impacts of climate change on coastal development.
Major changes are also needed in how urban land is taxed and the proceeds invested.
"Simple" reforms like replacing stamp duty on land transfer with a universal land tax, as the Henry Tax Review recommended, will take political courage that has been absent to date.
More complex policies like finding ways of diverting population growth to non-metropolitan regions will take careful thought and experimentation.
This might include relocating government agencies to provincial cities. This has been tried sporadically in the past at the federal level and in states such as Victoria and New South Wales.
However, such cases tend to be one-offs and do not reflect an overall strategic plan.
Future generations will inevitably be critical of the complete failure of current leaders to plan for sustainable development.
Mike Berry is an Emeritus Professor at RMIT University. Ian Lowe is an Emeritus Professor at Griffith University's School of Science and was president of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 2004 to 2014. He is now chair of the Wakefield Futures Group. This article originally appeared on The Conversation.
Posted Tue at 3:00am
Analysis The Conversation By Mike Berry and Ian LoweUpdated Tue at 5:09am
Australia was already one of the most urbanised nations by the end of the 19th century.
Unlike European and North American countries, Australia's pattern of settlement did not have a neat urban hierarchy. The gap between the large and small towns was huge.
These patterns have intensified in the decades since federation, especially after the World War II.
International and internal migration trends have driven rapid growth in the big cities, especially Melbourne and Sydney. This has created major problems with providing adequate housing, infrastructure and services.
The fundamental issue is the reluctance of urban communities and their leaders to discuss what might be sustainable populations.
Follow this story to get email or text alerts from ABC News when there is a future article following this storyline.
The folly of unlimited growth
No Australian city has a long-term vision showing how a future stabilised population might be supported with the essential resources of food, water and energy. No Australian city has faced up to the inevitable social tensions of increasing inequality between a well-served inner-urban elite and an increasingly under-resourced urban fringe.
Leaders in cities that have not grown as rapidly, such as Adelaide, lament their failure to grow like Sydney and Melbourne, despite all the associated problems. All implicitly believe unlimited growth is possible.
In reality, the expanding ecological footprints of the large cities have created unsustainable demands on land to support urban dwellers.
And the wastes the cities produce are straining the capacity of the environment to handle these.
Given the many unpriced flow-on effects from dense urban growth and market-led development, governments are struggling to deal with the undesirable consequences.
Congestion and pollution threaten to overwhelm the many social and economic benefits of urban life.
The growth and concentration of populations are also driving chronic excess demand for appropriate housing. The result is serious affordability problems, which are adding to inequality across society and generations.
In 1970, urban historian Hugh Stretton pointed to the role of Australia's widespread owner occupation in offsetting the inequalities generated in labour markets and by inherited wealth. This is no longer the case.
The dominant neoliberal economic ideology has resulted in a retreat from providing public housing.
Abandoning would-be home owners to the market has produced a situation in which urban land and house ownership is reinforcing class-based inequalities.
Home ownership is increasingly the preserve of the affluent and their children.
Housing-related inequality is also seen in the geography of our cities.
Poorer households are priced out of locations with better access to good jobs, schools, transport, health care and other services.
Failures of governance
Governments in Australia's federation are poorly placed to respond adequately. Responsibilities and fiscal resources are divided, creating obstacles to effective planning and infrastructure provision.
The main factor driving urban population growth is an unprecedented rate of inward migration.
The national government sets large migration targets as an easy way of creating economic growth. This leaves state governments with the impossible task of meeting the resulting demand for infrastructure.
Jane O'Sullivan has shown each extra urban citizen requires about $250,000 of investment. The total sum is well beyond the capacity of state and local governments.
Arguments between federal and state governments are heavily politicised, especially when it comes to major transport investments.
Even within single jurisdictions, complex demands and unexpected consequences prevent effective action. The waste recycling crisis is a prime example.
State governments must also deal with difficult trade-offs between, for example, allowing further development on the edges of cities or encouraging higher density in built-up areas.
This often involves conflicts with local governments and communities, concerned to protect their ways of life.
Australian planners and governments have long tinkered with policies to encourage decentralisation to smaller cities.
Despite these attempts, the dominant pattern of urbanisation with its seemingly intractable problems has hardened, a triumph of reality over rhetoric.
What needs to change?
To get beyond the rhetoric and make our cities more sustainably liveable requires a much more deliberate and interventionist role for government.
It also requires residents of our cities and suburbs to be willing to allow their governments to interrupt business as usual.
This, we know from experience, is a big ask. It will step on the toes of the property lobby and ordinary home owners.
In some cases, for example, the short-term financial interests of property owners are leading local authorities to ignore scientific warnings about the impacts of climate change on coastal development.
Major changes are also needed in how urban land is taxed and the proceeds invested.
"Simple" reforms like replacing stamp duty on land transfer with a universal land tax, as the Henry Tax Review recommended, will take political courage that has been absent to date.
More complex policies like finding ways of diverting population growth to non-metropolitan regions will take careful thought and experimentation.
This might include relocating government agencies to provincial cities. This has been tried sporadically in the past at the federal level and in states such as Victoria and New South Wales.
However, such cases tend to be one-offs and do not reflect an overall strategic plan.
Future generations will inevitably be critical of the complete failure of current leaders to plan for sustainable development.
Mike Berry is an Emeritus Professor at RMIT University. Ian Lowe is an Emeritus Professor at Griffith University's School of Science and was president of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 2004 to 2014. He is now chair of the Wakefield Futures Group. This article originally appeared on The Conversation.
Posted Tue at 3:00am
No idiot takes public transport in large countries when cars are affordable. Dont bring the sinkie thinking overseas
Traffic congestion getting worse in Australian cities, report finds
Updated Mon 15 Oct 2018, 2:43 PM AEDT
Traffic is slowing in Australia's major cities as roads become more congested, with speeds in Adelaide the most sluggish and conditions in Melbourne deteriorating quicker than any other capital city, a new report has shown.
Sydney remains the nation's most congested city, the Australian Automobile Association report shows.
Its Road Congestion in Australia report is based on five years of mapping and location data from all of the nation's capital cities.
In the five years to June this year, average speeds declined more in Melbourne than in any other city, dropping 8.2 per cent to 59.9 kilometres per hour.
Speeds in the South Australian capital were just 54.3 kilometres per hour, while speeds in Sydney and Brisbane fell by 3.6 and 3.7 per cent respectively.
Chart: Average speeds as proportion of speed limit
Different benchmarks of congestion are assessed throughout the report.
"Sydney is Australia's most congested city when average speeds are compared to free-flow speeds," the report said.
Free-flow speeds are the average observed speeds over a number of hours in an overnight period when there is no traffic.
Chart: Average speeds as a proportion of free-flow speeds
The Tullamarine Freeway to Melbourne Airport recorded the largest increase in congestion of any route between a capital city and its airport, with congestion up almost 13 per cent over the period.
Dave Jones, the manager of mobility advocacy at RACV, said much of the added congestion was due to major projects that had started over the past five years, including the Tullamarine Freeway widening, the Metro Tunnel and level crossing removals.
"The price of having such a backlog and years of doing nothing is that we are going to have road works and public transport works for years into the future,'' Mr Jones said.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Video 0:39
Growth is putting strain on our roads and public transport
ABC News
Victorian Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the State Government had begun a series of major projects that were contributing to current congestion.
"An enormous amount of work is going on and sometimes that does have an impact on travel times for the community, and I understand that's frustrating but to sit still is not an option," Mr Donnellan said.
"More's gone on in the last four years than ever before, and we know we've got to do a lot more."
Australian Automobile Association chief executive Michael Bradley said he hoped the report would contribute to solutions to address congestion.
"This report confirms what most people living in our major cities know all too well. But we hope it also help stimulate discussion and problem-solving so that Australia can develop smart measures to address our worsening congestion," Mr Bradley said in a statement.
The association said that in 2015 congestion cost Australia $16.5 billion and that without major policy changes, congestion costs were projected to reach between $27.7–37.3 billion by 2030.
Posted Mon 15 Oct 2018, 11:19 AM AEDT
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