Increased immigration will be essential if Australia is to maintain an adequate workforce and avoid future economic constraints, a new report argues.
The study by Australian National University's Academy of Social Sciences reflects the Reserve Bank's concerns about capacity constraints, as policymakers grapple with the ageing population, low fertility and booming demand for Australian resources.
It calls for an inquiry to determine the role of immigration in meeting future labour force needs.
The report by Professor Peter McDonald and Professor Glenn Withers says demand for service workers in labour-intensive industries will increase as living standards rise in line with higher productivity.
And with Chinese growth fuelling massive demand for resources, Australia must ensure an adequate supply of workers in mining, transportation and communication.
Major investment in new infrastructure also will be required to meet increasing demand,leading to the need for more construction and engineering workers, the report says.
"Supply constraints are the major problem that the Australian economy faces at present," says the report, titled Population and Australia's Future Labour Force.
"Labour shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks in particular have emerged."
Attempts to increase workforce participation could have some effect, but not enough to meet future demand for labour, it says.
"Looking ahead, there is increasing recognition that home-grown labour supply growth is in longer-term decline as baby boomers retire and participation plateaus and growth in numbers of young workers falls," the report says.
The logical conclusion is that Australia's future requirements for labour will drive increases in demand for sustained and growing immigration, it says.
Prof McDonald said Australia's labour force grew by an average of 1.9 per cent a year between 1980 and 2005.
But current growth was 1.2 per cent a year, and this would fall to 0.7 per cent by 2021 and 0.5 per cent by 2051 if current immigration levels and demographic trends continued.
Australia sustained high levels of immigration under the Howard government, which focused on approving skilled migrants to fill areas of need.
But immigration remains a potentially emotive issue for many voters, as the 2001 Tampa experience showed.
The report's authors warn strategies must be in place to manage immigration and ensure its public acceptance.
Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the Rudd government wanted to move towards more long-term planning of immigration intakes.
"The government recognises that we need a skilled migration program to meet the current and future demands of a booming economy and we are looking at ways to address the skills shortage through a combination of immigration, education and training initiatives," Senator Evans said.
"In meeting those future needs, the system must protect training and employment opportunities for Australian workers and preserve minimum wages and conditions to ensure foreign workers are not exploited."
Senator Evans said his department was consulting with Prof McDonald about further research to inform Australia's future immigration decisions.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=95253&_cobr=optus
Topic: Australia 'needs' more immigrant workers - WTH??? (Read 1320 times)