Will refugees really ‘take Australians’ jobs’ like Peter Dutton said this morning?

PETER Dutton caused a storm of controversy today by claiming refugees will “take Australians’ jobs”. So is there any truth to what he said?

IMMIGRATION Minister Peter Dutton has been the hot topic of the day, after he claimed many refugees were “innumerate and illiterate in their own languages, let alone English”.

Speaking on Sky News, in response to the Greens’ proposal of taking 50,000 humanitarian refugees per year, he said: “These people would be taking Australian jobs. There’s no question about that.

He added: “For many of them that would be unemployed, they would languish in unemployment queues and on Medicare and the rest of it. So there would be huge cost and there’s no sense in sugar-coating that, that’s the scenario.”

The backlash was instant and widespread, with Labor and Greens politicians slamming the remarks.

Peter Dutton's attack on refugees for taking jobs or being illiterate are wrong, nasty & shows everything wrong with current Liberal party

— Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) May 17, 2016

Labor has demanded Mr. Dutton apologise, with Chris Bowen saying on ABC Radio today: “If Peter Dutton owes anybody an apology it’s not the Labor Party, it’s them — hundreds of thousands of refugees who have made Australia a better place.”

Meanwhile, former NSW Labor Premier Kristina Keneally highlighted an apparent contradiction in his comments:

Peter Dutton says refugees cost millions as welfare dependents AND also take Australian jobs. Which is it, Pete?

— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) May 17, 2016

When asked to respond, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: “We invest an enormous amount of money into the settlement services, to make sure that our refugees who come to Australia get the language instruction, all of the support to enable them to integrate into Australian society and move into employment and take up those opportunities.

“It’s very expensive. We don’t begrudge the money, but it’s important to get it right.”

Julie Bishop made a similar point, saying there is an “extremely high cost in ensuring they can be a contributing member of society”.

According to The Australian, the Greens’ proposal of taking 50,000 humanitarian refugees annually would cost about $7 billion over four years.

Labor’s proposal to increase the intake to 27,000 would cost about $2.3 billion over the same period.

SO WILL REFUGEES REALLY TAKE OUR JOBS?

The “They’re taking our jobs!” argument is a common line heard in politics around the world, and Mr Dutton is certainly not the first to put it in the spotlight.

But is there actually any validity to his claims, or is he just playing politics with an easy, vulnerable target?

Several studies would suggest the latter.

Are refugees really going to be “taking our jobs”, as Peter Dutton said this morning?

A 2013 report entitled ‘Assessing the economic contribution of refugees in Australia’ said that – like other migrants – refugees bring labour and skills to the country that increase the overall demand for goods and services.

In other words, they represent a potential economic contribution.

“Experience suggests that refugees in Australia engage heavily in job searching and vocational education, often accept work below their levels of experience and education, and commonly undertake voluntary work”, said the Multicultural Development Association, in the report.

It found that, between 2002 and 2012, almost 80 per cent of the 1200 jobseekers working with the MDA’s Employment and Training Services team achieved employment and training places.

Similarly, a 2011 report from the Department of Immigration, commissioned by Professor Graeme Hugo, who was one of Australia’s leading demographers, concluded that “the social contributions of humanitarian entrants are substantial”.

The report tracked the economic and social contributions of first and second generation refugees in Australia since 1975. It found that they, on average, had higher levels of education than other migrants, greater entrepreneurial qualities, and often higher levels of participation in both paid and volunteer work.

WHERE ARE THE EXAMPLES OF REFUGEES CONTRIBUTING?

There are several recent examples of refugee groups integrating into Australian communities, creating jobs and contributing to their local economies.

Take Nhill, a rural in western Victoria’s Wimmera region which – like many country towns – was struggling to survive before refugees began calling it home.

Since 2010, more than 160 Karen refugees from Myanmar have settled here for work. The Karen people are a persecuted ethnic minority in Myanmar. More than 140,000 of them live along the Thai-Burma border in camps.

Australia has resettled thousands of Karen refugees, and today they make up almost 10 per cent of the small town.

Ten years ago, the town was desolate and struggling. With their arrival, the refugees succeeded in effectively rejuvenating it after its biggest employer, Luv-A-Duck, invited them to work in its manufacturing plant.

They added more than $40 million and 70 jobs to the struggling community’s local economy, according to a Deloitte Access Economics report.

Karen community members (L-R) Coreena Moo Dwell, May Than and Ma Pane are just some of those that have resettled in the town of Nhill as refugees, and helped transform the community.

This is not an isolated case. Shepparton is another little country town, located 200km north of Melbourne, which shows just how easy it is to embrace refugees without hassle.

The town accepts refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan with open arms, and the result has been an even more thriving community filled with new businesses, countless cafes and restaurants, and religious festivals.

Shepparton mayor Dennis Patterson told Buzzfeed News the tradition of working hard and trying to make a better life has continued with each successful wave, from the Italians and Greeks who came to Australia as fruit-pickers after the war, to the refugees arriving today.

“It’s not a big deal here anymore. We’ve lived it, we’ve seen the richness it brings. We’ve seen that people simply want a better life. They want to raise their families and be part of the community,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Business Review Weekly’s annual “Rich 200” list is full of migrants who have risen to the top of Australian business. Far from “stealing jobs”, they actually create new ones.

On the 2000 list, five of Australia’s eight billionaires were people whose families had originally come to the country as refugees.

Sam Eisho was an Iraqi refugee who came here with nothing, but paid back everything he was given.

Lastly, let’s not forget Sam Eisho, the Sydney businessman who repaid every cent the government had given him.

The civil engineer came to Australia in 1999, as a refugee from Iraq. He built a thriving construction business, aided by receiving roughly $18,000 in payments between 1999 and 2001.

In 2013, he walked right into Centrelink and tried to give an $18,000 cheque to a staff member, telling her: “This is a cheque I want to pay you guys.”

He left a note with the cheque, reading: “I came to Australia destitute and was assisted by Centrelink for quite some months. Eventually, due to the great opportunities in this land, I was able to find work, and then after some time, set up my own business. My appreciation for the opportunities of this country are always on my lips. I always feel deep within me the need to repay the money that I received.”