Editorial: Migration isn’t the issue, planning is

Steven Miles this month called on federal Labor to cut immigration levels, saying they were partly responsible for the housing crisis and traffic jams, as if he was surprised by Queensland’s current population. He shouldn’t be, writes the editor.

Immigration. It’s an interesting scapegoat for a Labor premier.

Steven Miles this month called on federal Labor to cut immigration levels, saying they were partly responsible for the housing crisis.

“If migration continues at current levels, we’ll need tens of thousands more homes every year than industry can build,” he said on May 14.

“The federal government needs to assist us to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with population growth.

“We urge them to consider moderating migration levels to assist with population growth.”

On May 21 Mr Miles was at it again, declaring the high numbers of international arrivals were the reason you get stuck in traffic jams on the Bruce Highway or the M1 every long weekend.

“My government is delivering the biggest transport build in Queensland’s history,” he said.

“But as quickly as we build it Queensland is outgrowing it.”

Treasurer Cameron Dick and Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Liam Kidston

So it seems Mr Miles is surprised by Queensland’s current population.

He shouldn’t be. Queensland’s current population is actually on track with what was predicted when Annastacia Palaszczuk took office in 2015.

Government data from 2015 reveals the state’s population was tipped to be 5.25 million in 2021, but it ended up being 5.16 million.

Predictions that Queensland would house 5.73 million people in 2026 remain stable, according to available projections.

“Nothing should have surprised the government about population growth,” Opposition Deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie said.

Mr Miles’s spokeswoman said a growth explosion in the past 12 months meant the most recent government forecast at June 2023 underestimated the population by 11,000.

Eleven thousand. They must all be pretty bad drivers.

What we are actually seeing now, both in housing and in traffic congestion, is the result of years of under-investment across the state.

Ms Palaszczuk liked to boast about how many people were moving to Queensland, without actually delivering the support services and infrastructure the growing state needed.

Opposition Deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Now, five months from a state election, Mr Miles is attempting to distance himself from this lack of investment under his predecessor, and making an attempt to re-set the narrative.

It didn’t need to come to this.

The huge windfall accrued from Treasurer Cameron Dick’s coal super tax could have been diverted into public housing and freeways, but instead it’s gone to free kindy and power bill help – measures which will deliver only temporary relief to Queenslanders in the cost-of-living crisis.

Instead, the state government has wasted the windfall, and is now resorting to desperate measures such as 50c public transport to get cars off the roads.

Perhaps the government should acknowledge its failings in planning for the future.

But with an election in October, we wouldn’t count on it.

China must know we won’t be bullied

We are indeed living in dangerous times.

As Foreign Minister Penny Wong will say today at the Defending Australia Summit in Canberra, Chinese military operations around Taiwan present the threat of a spark escalating into a full-blown regional conflict.

“The risk of an accident, and potential escalation, is growing,” she says, while stressing the importance of engagement with China.

“Australia is working to build momentum for dialogue … to reduce the risks of escalation, miscalculation and catastrophic conflict.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Australian journalist Cheng Lei. Picture: AFP

This is all well and good, but a story that we cover today illustrates just how far apart Australia and China are on the issue of Taiwan and how difficult dialogue can be.

Recently 11 MPs, mostly state MPs from NSW but including federal Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher, attended an event in Sydney to mark the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president.

They all received an email from the Chinese Consulate-General, saying that they “firmly oppose” the MPs’ attendance at the event.

“The Consulate-General hopes that you will adhere to the fact that ‘Taiwan is a province of China’,” the email reads.

The complete lack of understanding of Australia’s freedoms – of speech and association – can only really be made by those from a totalitarian regime.

Chinese politicians can tie themselves up in logical knots all they want, maintaining that an independent nation is actually part of China.

But Australians don’t have to. And nor will we.