Australia and the West have experienced, hand over fist, improvements in GDP and living standards since we moved our manufacturing and resource extraction overseas*.
Even as the working class got sold out**, living standards improved across the board. The rich got richer and so did the middle class - with most Australians joining the middle class, during and, since the post-war era.
We were getting a good deal on our imports, taking more from poorer countries (Global South) than we gave in return, but that has been coming to an end.
The Global North (the First World) has monopolised trade with the Global South, by Capital and demand but also coercion and regime change, which ensured a good deal. But with the rise of the BRIX and China’s Belt and Road initiative, the Global South has more opportunity for equal exchange of goods and services.
While the IMF used third world debt to influence policy change, allowing Western Capital to buy up and exploit industry, Chinese banks are forgiving debts and negotiating mutually beneficial agreements (to the benefit of China).
While Western Capital built limited infrastructure to extract a specific resource, China is investing in not just general infrastructure but education and the creation of a local workforce.
The Global South are trading with each other. They have more options, trade is more competitive - we get less of a deal.
Where previously Australia could afford to give Corporations absurd profits and still have money for the people, this will be less and less possible. Australia needs to re-embrace the policies of the post-war era, which ensured a dignified life, and roll back the last 50 years of neoliberal policy built for an age which no longer exists.
* Not just in the neoliberal era, but all the way back to the start of colonial expansion.
** With manufacturing moving overseas and the denationalisation by various Liberal -and some Labor- governments.
*** consent manufacturing became harder to enforce
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49687-y
[2] https://ourworldindata.org/trade-and-globalization
[4] https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2377740023500173
CC SA NC
This is because of the huge population growth due to immigration, as the government use immigrants to prop up the total GDP while ignoring the per capita gdp which is getting worse and worse as you said. The people that have lived here for generations are having less kids because they can’t afford to have them, but the people they import from the third world have no problem having 8 kids while living on government handouts, of which they get more of.
Just bring in more people to spend to prop up the house of cards seems to be their only play, and I genuinely believe they don’t have a way out of the situation. The politicians don’t care because they’re all getting filthy rich so the degradation of living standards won’t ever affect them or their families.
The per capital drops are not the fault of immigrants nor immigration. Immigration normally helps with productivity and gsp growth. As you say it’s the only thing propping up the economy.
Blaming immigrants is misguided and an easy way to foment racism, as per the march for Australia rallies today.
If immigration drops suddenly, due to policy change or otherwise, we’ll all be even worse off and could trigger an even worse recession.
The per capita drop is very much related to immigration, but the main point was that we’re expediting immigration-driven population growth just to keep overall gdp growth at any cost.
More and more immigrants are being brought in, having lots of kids, and working a bare minimum. Doing this lowers the per person gdp but increases total gdp - exactly like we’re seeing.
It’s not a coincidence that migration numbers are at all time highs at the exact same time that these gdp situations are unfolding. Immigration is being used to, among other things, keep total gdp growing so the government can say for amazing the economy is while it’s actual a complete shitshow - exactly like they’re doing.
What will get worse if we pause immigration for 5 years? Total GDP growth. That’s it. The housing market will improve (as in affordability and availability), inflation will slow. What will get worse?
Don’t give me any crap about us needing “skilled migrants” to keep our hospitals and building industries going either, cause we all know that’s a lie.
The per capita affects all aussies at all levels. Thats the problem. If it was just more poor immigrants, people would not be protesting. Immigration increases gdp, not reduces it.
Most immigrants that come are working age without kids. The pay taxes but get very little out from their taxes. Some choose to stay, if they can, and have kids, but if so, those kids are aussies, not immigrants.
It’s not crap about us needing skilled migrants for many industries. We don’t have all the skills we need. However, those skilled workers are also the ones earning more than average, paying more taxes and increasing per capita gdp.
If we turn off the immigrant tap, our education system collapses, as it’s now dependent on exports. Our hospital system is also understaffed and underfunded, so it worsens. Our inflation is generally seen to be under control currently, although it is at risk. Prices won’t drop if inflation drops, prices drop in a recession. That’s what we will have. A housing crash is not how you make housing affordable, look at Ireland, USA, Greece. They’ve all had one, their housing is not affordable, those that couldn’t afford houses when out priced can’t afford them when there is no bank willing to lend.
What will get worse? Our economy. It’s already in recession, except for immigration. So, we will go into actual recession. Those extra numbers propping up retail, gone. Those workers doing jobs aussies won’t, like farm work. Gone, food inflation, not easing.
We don’t need lower immigration numbers. We need services for the number of people entering. New schools, new roads, new hospitals, more public transport and more medium density housing.
So, don’t blame the immigrants, they are here from the policies of both sides of our political system. Blame the libs who didn’t want to,pay for those services and just wanted cheap labor,
I see you didn’t read my last paragraph.
Just here for accuracy, paragraph 3 addresses your last paragraph and matches your tone rather elegantly.
Me: Don’t just regurgitate the old debunked lies
You: Regurgitates the old debunked lies
Also how can you say this:
right after saying this?
We only need new schools, new hospitals, new housing, etc because of our huge immigration numbers. If you pause immigration then we can let the countries infrastructure and housing catch up to a point where it’s actually enough for the population we already have. Do you not understand how bringing in 1500 new immigrants per day when we already don’t have enough houses etc only compounds the problem? We’ve brought in nearly 2 million immigrants in the last 2 years so by your logic all these issues should be fixed, shouldn’t they? They’re the ones we need to fix the problems aren’t they? So why are the problems getting worse?
Where is that 2million number coming from?
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/overseas-migration/latest-release
https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.723F2CQ
Racism, seemingly.
You’re including Nazi talking points after the previous comment warned you about sounding like a Nazi.
Nazi fuck, fuck off.
Dude when you call everything “Nazi” no one cares. Nothing I said is even remotely “nazi talking points”.
Also I have no idea what “warning” you’re talking about lol
it was the specific reference to established people not having as many children that is a common neo-nazi dog whistle, then you assert that immigrants are having 8 kids and living on government handouts. Anecdotally the only people I’ve ever seen having 8 kids and living of government handouts is Shazza down the road, true blue Aussie.
Ah so as expected, you just love using the buzzwords like “dogwhistle” and calling everyone you disagree with a “nazi”. Facts are facts, “home grown” Australians aren’t having as many children, and people from third world countries have more children due to things like lack of sex education, birth control access, and the need for more people to help/work. This isn’t controversial in any way, nor is it an attack on them. It’s just reality.
It is, however, an attack on our government who use these facts for their own agenda, which in this case is GDP growth and keeping the housing market booming at all costs.
Nowhere is really having that many kids. The planet is already at peak child and population worldwide will decline in the coming years.
Most home grown Aussies are the children or grandchildren of immigrants. This country is born of immigration. Fuck GDP figures and just sing the national anthem to yourself.
For those who’ve come across the seas, WE’VE BOUNDLESS PLAINS TO SHARE. With courage let us all combine to Advance Australia fair.
Ah this old chestnut lol. There’s a difference between people that have been here for 2 hundred years, through generations and generations, who all speak english and live our way of life, vs an immigrant from india/random muslim country coming over now. The country being born of immigration doesn’t mean that everyone is forever an immigrant.
On your pictures, do you notice any sort of coincidence about the places with the massively high numbers and the immigrants we’re packing the country full of?