Steve Price: Time to shut the gates until we sort out housing crisis

Last year Melbourne’s population grew by 166,000 people. It’s “madness” we keep letting people flood in as rents soar, roads are clogged, public transport struggles and homelessness soars.

It’s time for Melbourne to shut the gates until we sort out the housing crisis, Steve Price writes.

Melbourne — our city — is now home to 5.1 million people making it the most populated capital city in the country.

Bigger in population than Sydney at just over five million.

Last year our population grew by 166,000 people, according to the Bureau of Statistics, or 455 people a day.

Much of the surge was driven by international students returning after the Covid years. Whatever the reason it’s time we shut the gates, paused permanent and short-term visas and sorted out the housing crisis.

It’s madness to keep letting people flood into the country as rents soar, roads are clogged, public transport struggles to cope and homelessness surges.

Melbourne is Australia’s most populated city. Picture: David Caird

What sort of sensible immigration policy is that? Anyone celebrating the “biggest” title clearly has no clue of the massive problems that title brings.

You can do a lot with figures but as James Campbell reported in these pages last weekend – from an Institute of Public Affairs survey – in the 2022 – 23 year 49,901 new dwellings were built, and we took in 157,220 people over the same period.

How can any competent Government just keep rolling out the welcome mat to overseas arrivals and not even be able to provide somewhere to live for their existing citizens – Australians? This is all in the middle of a housing and rental crisis.

It simply makes no sense to keep pumping the immigration pedal.

The only explanation you can offer is the blindingly obvious one that Federal Labor loves a big, permanent migrant intake with many set to eventually become grateful Labor voters.

That and the fact it’s a lazy economic solution, based on the theory a bigger population means more taxes in the door, shielding the Budget from the reality of a busted economy.

The social upheavals caused by this blind rush to a bigger Australia is something we will be coping with for generations to come and one we will come to regret. Youth crime statistics are exploding across high population centres like Melbourne and Sydney with authorities, especially state Labor government, unwilling to even hint that at the heart of much of this crime are young migrant teens, and younger children.

Melbourne’s population grew by 166,000 people last year.

Unlike the targeted migration programs of the 1950s and 60s filling job vacancies, with European families fleeing WWII, our current permanent migration and refugee pool seems to be coming exclusively from Africa and the Middle East.

Many of these people will obviously turn out to be valuable, skilled and wonderful additions to the Australian population. Problem is, given the inexplicable numbers federal Labor seems addicted to, you are always going to have those who can’t cope with the changed lifestyle. Being dumped in the outer western and southeastern suburbs of Melbourne doesn’t help.

Many of those Italians, Greeks, Yugoslavs, and other Europeans of the 1950s and 60s eased their way in via migrant camps at places like Bonegilla.

Situated in northeast Victoria about 12km from Wodonga, that camp closed in 1971 after over 300,000 migrants passed through the gates. It wasn’t always plain sailing and there were riots in 1952 and again in 1961 largely caused by poor food quality and lack of work opportunities.

History though recalls that the camp’s purpose was to “train migrants in Australian values so they could become model citizens”.

Can you imagine what would happen if you tried to use that sort of language today and in fact, we have made the migrant entry test easier, so more people are able to pass it.

Australian born residents of a certain generation well remember this cohort of migrants, especially the Italians and Greeks, as hard working and ambitious individuals. Many of the men took over the tough construction jobs, working their backsides off to establish family enclaves in places like Carlton, Brunswick, Port Melbourne and South Melbourne.

Unemployment in the early ’60s sat at below 2 per cent of the population so everyone had a job if they wanted one and you had to be a resident in Australia for a year before being able to receive the dole.

Much of the population growth was due to the return of international students after Covid.

Today if you arrive in Australia and are classified as a refugee you will be entitled to Job Seeker Payments, a Parenting Payment, Disability and Carer Payments and even the Aged Pension. According to the official My Gov website you might also get a one- off Crisis Payment, Rent Assistance and Concession and Health Care Cards. It goes on and on. There is even a Family Tax Benefit if you are on a temporary protection visa, plus and a range of parental payments if raising a family.

Is it any wonder the line to get into Australia stretches around the world. What we are doing to places like Melbourne just doesn’t make any sense and it’s about to get worse.

Don’t buy this idea that Labor is going to pull the plug any time soon, with The Australian reporting net Overseas Migration in the 12 months to September last year stood at 548,000.

Incredibly it’s estimated that there were 700,000 overseas students alone in Australia at the start of 2024.

There are payments available to refugees who arrive in Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Is it any wonder no-one can find a place to rent at a reasonable cost let alone a cheap house to buy? Figures show inner city Carlton took in 3700 net overseas migrants in just 12 months. And it’s not just the inner city, with Geelong now home to 302,000 people and all the issues that brings, with road connections to the CBD overwhelmed daily.

The Albanese Government is clearly in a blind panic over migration with chaotic changes last week aimed at avoiding the High Court debacle that allowed 152 detainees to be released into the community including rapists and pedophiles. Another 100 detainees could be released if an unnamed Iranian man, claiming he will be persecuted over his sexuality if deported back to Iran, wins an active High Court case.

New legislation now stuck in the Senate could see countries like Iran, Iraq and South Sudan struck off and residents, tourists and businesspeople even, unable to get any visas into Australia, prompting the Opposition to claim that could ignite illegal boat arrivals. God forbid that danger rears its ugly head again.

Whether the numbers coming in are temporary visa holders, permanent new residents, students, skilled migrants or even refugees, we need to take a deep breath and have a debate about how big a country we want Australia to become. Melbourne and Sydney are full. The existing population is unable to afford soaring rents or find vacant affordable housing suitable to live in.

Melbourne’s population is growing at a rapid rate.

At the very least Australians deserve a national debate on population, NOW!

Federal and state governments want no debate, while the federal opposition isn’t anywhere near strong enough.

Until someone can convince me otherwise, I think it’s time to put up the “Australia is full” sign.

Dislikes

- Nine owned Radio 3AW networking overnight news from Sydney with a 5am bulletin Tuesday morning ignoring five days of AFL for a Rugby League result – shameful.

- Global warming preachers Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen using not one but two private jets to get to a media stunt in NSW’s Hunter Valley.

- Hundreds of food and beverage venues in Melbourne closed over Easter because of crippling penalty rates.

- More out of control street violence, stolen car pursuits and even a jarringly frightening daylight hammer attack in Richmond.

Likes

- Showbiz legend Denise Drysdale fronting up in her seventies for a stint in Ten’s I’m A celebrity Get me out of Here.

- Professional Golf heaven the US Masters next week and LIV Golf back in Adelaide late April.

- Another record broken for the Royal Children’s Hospital appeal over Easter more than $23.3 million raised.

- Tassie JackJumpers basketball team’s romantic victory in the NBL competition.

Originally published as Steve Price: Time to shut the gates until we sort out housing crisis