Albanese's immigration promise undermined by rising numbers
Immigration levels are soaring under Anthony Albanese - with almost two-thirds of new arrivals moving to Sydney and Melbourne and putting pressure on housing, water and transport infrastructure. Australia took in 340,800 migrants last year, higher than Treasury's pre-election Budget forecast of 335,000 net arrivals for the 2024-25 financial year and 76 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic intake of 194,000.
The new figures were released on Thursday, a day after Treasurer Jim Chalmers admitted Australia would struggle to build 1.2million more homes in the five years to 2029 to accommodate the population explosion. 'The 1.2million homes is a very ambitious target, deliberately so and it will be hard to get there, but it's not impossible to get there but everyone needs to do their bit,' he told the National Press Club in Canberra. While immigration levels are down from the record-high intake of 548,800 seen two years ago, the population influx from overseas migration is overwhelmingly flowing to Australia's two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne - with NSW and Victoria having to house 207,233 new overseas residents.
That's more than 60 per cent of the net intake of 340,800 permanent and long-term arrivals into Australia. Sydney has become so expensive that large numbers of the Australian-born population are moving elsewhere, with 28,118 people leaving New South Wales last year for another state, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed. This exodus from NSW - while 106,730 new overseas migrants moved in - is putting pressure on other states in terms of infrastructure and services, and could potentially see the GST broadened so the states and territories have more money to spend.
Queensland took in 25,940 new residents from other states and 56,877 from overseas, leading to population growth at a slightly above-average level of 1.9 per cent. Victoria also reported a higher population growth rate of 1.9 per cent with only 3,203 people leaving for another state as 100,503 new migrants arrived, mainly to Melbourne. Western Australia had the strongest population growth of 2.4 per cent as 12,612 people entered from other states and 45,124 people moved in from overseas.
Australia's overall population grew by 1.7 per cent in 2024, with overseas migration making up 76 per cent of the 445,900 increase factoring in births and deaths. Below-average population growth was recorded in New South Wales (1.3 per cent) due to a large interstate exodus, along with South Australia (1.1 per cent), Tasmania (0.3 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (1.4 per cent) and the Northern Territory (1.2 per cent).
Broader GST possible to help states
Chalmers on Wednesday declined to rule out broadening or increasing the 10 per cent GST so the Commonwealth Grants Commission could distribute more funds to the states and territories that have to house the soaring population. Items like fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, cooking oil, meat and unflavoured milk were exempted from the Goods and Services Tax under a political deal reached in 1999 between former Liberal prime minister John Howard's government and the Australian Democrats in the Senate.
The big overseas influx is particularly putting pressure on utilities. Sydney Water had proposed to increase its customers' bills by 18 per cent from October 1, under its 2025 to 2030 plan, citing population growth. A Sydney Water board meeting last year warned of the strain on infrastructure in the city's outer suburbs, which house a higher proportion of new migrants.
'The biggest drivers behind Sydney Water's planned investments are growth and renewing existing infrastructure,' the meeting minutes said. 'Most of this investment will support growth in both new and established areas – especially in western Sydney, where development is booming and where population growth is pushing existing water and wastewater systems to their limits.' To cope with the population surge, Sydney Water had expected the average bill to rise by $226 during the next financial year, and by $111 every year until 2029-30.
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