Coronavirus: foreign worker cuts would ‘will hurt economy’, says Chris Richardson

A leading economic forecaster Chris Richardson has questioned Labor’s calls for a reduction in migrants.

‘Keeping our borders closed to protect our health makes great sense, but thinking it protects jobs and workers just doesn’t make sense’: Chris Richardson. Picture: Richard Jupe

A leading economic forecaster has questioned Labor’s calls for a ­reduction in migrants after opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally called on the Morrison government to use the COVID-19 border closures to reconsider the country’s economic reliance on temporary migrants and encourage unemployed Australians to fill labour gaps. 

Deloitte economist Chris Richardson said on Sunday reducing migrant numbers would be “bad economics” and it was wrong to suggest more foreign workers would keep Australians out of work. “It would certainly hurt at least as much as it helps,” Mr Richardson said. “Keeping our borders closed to protect our health makes great sense, but thinking it protects jobs and workers just doesn’t make sense. When our migration rates were highest, we actually had our lowest unemployment rates.”

Senator Keneally wrote in a newspaper opinion article on Sunday: ‘‘As a result of COVID-19, Australia will soon have an opportunity to do something we have never done before: restart a ­migration program.

‘‘When we do, we must understand that migration is a key economic policy lever that can help or harm Australian workers during economic recovery and beyond.’’

With international border closures expected to be in place for at least another three to four months, the government expects net migration to fall to 36,000 in 2020-21, the lowest number in 40 years.

The drop is expected to have a significant impact on Australia's ability to recover economically from the COVID-19 crisis.

Scott Morrison predicted on Friday that Australia’s net overseas migration numbers would drop by 85 per cent in the 2020-21 financial year, compared to 2018-19 numbers.

In the previous year, Australia’s population grew by 239,600 from net overseas migration, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

Mr Richardson said the ­nation’s response to the virus meant Australia was becoming­ ­increasingly valuable to the world.

“The smart response would be to get young skilled migrants coming to Australia to help raise living standards here, as well as those of the new arrivals,” he said.

Senator Keneally’s calls were echoed by opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek on Sunday, who said the government should be training Australians for the jobs that become available as the economy recovers.

“Migrants are an important component of Australia’s success story. It’s made us the terrific multicultural society we are. We simply say, as we always say, the number and composition of our immigration intake should meet Australia’s needs first and foremost,” Ms Plibersek said.

“As the economy recovers, immigration in recent times has filled a number of skills shortage areas. As skills shortages re-emerge as the economy picks up again after this shutdown, we should give the first opportunity of those jobs to Australians who have become ­unemployed during the crisis.”

Mr Richardson said that while Australia’s migration program was not perfect and a review would be a good idea, investment in infrastructure would be more valuable to the economy than cutting foreign workers. “The thing that needs to change more is not so much our migration numbers but our infrastructure spend,” Mr Richardson said. “It’s a spectacularly good time for Australia to spend more on infrastructure given our high unemployment.’’

Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said Labor was “all over the shop” on migration.