The impact of Immigration

[Brendan]

On 22/04/2026 at 8:15 AM, Marty_d said:

I would be very interested to know how immigrants have affected people PERSONALLY. 

There's a lot of anti-immigration rubbish on here. It's all general.

Personally, in my team at work there are 3 people who emigrated to Australia. They're hard workers and good people.

So I'm interested why people have a problem with Australia's current immigration regime.

Is it because of the stories in the Murdoch press?

Is it because you want a simple scapegoat for complex societal problems like house prices?

Or have you been personally impacted by immigration?

Its the uncontrolled immigration.

Albo is importing thousands of new voters that hate our way of life as much as he and his leftie mates.

 

[onetrack]

Quote

Albo is importing thousands of new voters that hate our way of life as much as he and his leftie mates

Where's your official references to this sweeping extreme right wing claim? - apart from regular One Nation outbursts?

[octave]

28 minutes ago, Brendan said:

Its the uncontrolled immigration.

Albo is importing thousands of new voters that hate our way of life as much as he and his leftie mates.

 

 

I think it is crucially important that, whatever our views are, we try hard to present information that is accurate.  The problem with a meme is that it can say anything, true, partially true or false, and this somehow becomes fact. 

 

Incorrect reporting of ABS data fuelling false claims Australia has a mass migration problem

 

 

The report’s authors say that public commentators, activists and some media outlets are incorrectly using Permanent and Long-Term (PLT) movement data, which is collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), to claim Australia has a ‘migration problem’ and distort public understanding. 

 

This is despite repeated, clear comments from the ABS that PLT does not measure migration but instead records people coming in and out of Australia, and includes tourists, temporary visa holders, returning residents and repeated short absences. 

 

ANU Professor Alan Gamlen explains that net overseas migration (NOM) — the number of migrants arriving in Australia minus the number of migrants departing Australia — is in fact falling sharply and has been since June 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

Approximately 838 people were added to Australia's population each day through net migration during the 2024–25 financial year [5.18, 5.21].

This daily figure is derived from Net Overseas Migration (NOM), which measures the number of people arriving in Australia minus those departing [5.27, 5.33]. It is the most accurate official measure for population growth, as it only counts individuals who stay in the country for at least 12 out of 16 months [5.27, 5.33]. 

 

Recent Migration Statistics (Daily Breakdown)

• Net Overseas Migration (NOM): In the 2024–25 financial year, NOM was 306,000, averaging roughly 838 people per day [5.18, 5.21]. This was a decrease from the record high of 538,000 (approx. 1,474 per day) seen in 2022–23 [5.21].
• Gross Migrant Arrivals: About 1,556 people arrived daily (568,000 annually) in 2024–25 [5.18, 5.21]. However, many of these arrivals were offset by the roughly 720 people who departed daily during the same period [5.18, 5.21].
• Permanent vs. Temporary: Of the daily arrivals, only about 252 people per day (92,000 annually) arrived on permanent visas, while the majority were on temporary visas, such as international students [5.3]. 

 

Distinguishing Different Data Measures

Reports often cite different numbers depending on the metric used:

• Official NOM (Population Growth): Currently averages around 838–933 per day based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) [5.27, 5.33].
• Net Permanent and Long-term (NPLT) Arrivals: This is a "raw" measure of border crossings often used as an early indicator [5.13, 5.32]. It is typically higher (sometimes cited as 1,160 to over 3,400 per day in specific record months like February) but can be misleading because it may count the same person multiple times if they travel frequently [5.1, 5.2, 5.11, 5.33]. 

 

Edited 12 hours ago by octave

[facthunter]

Lousy source of information, Brendan.   Nev

[Brendan]

30 minutes ago, onetrack said:

Where's your official references to this sweeping extreme right wing claim? - apart from regular One Nation outbursts?

Look it up. 100000 people in February alone.

You lefties will never admit there is a problem 

[octave]

Are there immigration figures for feb 2026?

 

Short answer: not yet in a clean “monthly immigration” sense for February 2026—but there are related figures you can use, depending on what you mean.

 Monthly “arrivals” (closest thing available)

The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes monthly Overseas Arrivals and Departures (OAD) data.

• Latest release goes up to January 2026, not February yet
• Even when February is released, this dataset counts border crossings, not actual migrants (people can enter/leave multiple times)

👉 So: you can get February 2026 arrivals eventually, but it won’t equal “immigration”.

[facthunter]

Brendan, Wake up to yourself. This $#!t  doesn't help the Forum. . Nev

[old man emu]

You are required by law to enrol if you: ■ are 18 years of age or older ■ are an Australian citizen, and ■ have lived at your current address for at least a month.

 

The gain Australian citizenship a person has to have been living here for four years, including one year being a permanent resident. Given the four year wait, a governing Party is not going to be importing supporters given the three year term of parliament. So I say that allegation of vote rigging does not stand up.

 

What annoys me is that is seems a very large number of immigrants, especially from India, do not have teh qualifications or skills the country requires. I will concede that a lot of qualified immigrants cannot use their skills because of our laws that make it hard for qualifications gained overseas to be recognised. I suppose that is why we have foreign students gaining qulaifications here and then applying for residency and eventually citizenship.

[octave]

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

What annoys me is that is seems a very large number of immigrants, especially from India, do not have teh qualifications or skills the country requires.

I guess we need to look at facts and figures rather than perception.  When we think of immigrants, let's say from India, we tend to think of Uber or DoorDash rather than an engineer or a doctor.  I am not sure what the stats would show.

 

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

I suppose that is why we have foreign students gaining qulaifications here and then applying for residency and eventually citizenship.

The music studios I have worked at have a high percentage of people who study music in Australia.   The reason is that these music schools have a tough time finding qualified, reliable teachers.  There is no bias towards employing people from other countries. Having managed one of these places myself, I can tell you that it is a case of "are you qualified? Are you reliable? Are you good at it?  I have loads of ex-colleagues who came here as students and became productive members of society, and therefore were able to become permanent residents.  It may well be different is some other industries.

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, octave said:

we tend to think of Uber or DoorDash rather than an engineer or a doctor.

Unfortunately for some of these people with qualifications gained overseas, our, one might say "racist", professional bodies do not accept them. Threfore, while the immigrant awaits acceptance of their qualifications, they have to do menial tasks. I knew of a radiologist who had to wok as an aged care worker because his qualificatins had not been accepted at the time I knew him. In fact, when I last saw him he was starting a cleaning business. His wife's nursing qualificatins had been accepted and she was in employment.

[octave]

12 minutes ago, old man emu said:

I knew of a radiologist who had to wok

Your typo amuses me 😁

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

Actually, it was 2025 that saw the highest number of immigrants, a record number.

 

I've received phone calls from Indians, male and female, from various companies, and honestly, I couldn't understand a word they were saying, I had to guess and throw in some words and phrases of my own, fishing for a simple yes or no response attempting to get a clue about the reason for the phone call. What should have taken two minutes in most cases, took about twelve minutes.

[pmccarthy]

One side in this discussion “attacks the man” (ad hominem) rather than accepting that there are differing views. Why is that? Why do lefties get so enraged? Go back and read through this or many other threads and you will see what I mean. A statement that may be right, wrong biased or reasonable or just an opinion leads to a vicious response.

[facthunter]

IF you are referring to ME I stand by my questions which were not at any stage addressed.  There's enough Misinformation out there to tolerate without it being deliberately Published HERE... I will call it out any time it Happens .  It's easily fixed. Stop doing it and calling people you don't Like, Lefties. I cop that one all the time. . Nev

[octave]

9 minutes ago, pmccarthy said:

One side in this discussion “attacks the man” (ad hominem) rather than accepting that there are differing views. Why is that? Why do lefties get so enraged? Go back and read through this or many other threads and you will see what I mean. A statement that may be right, wrong biased or reasonable or just an opinion leads to a vicious response.

I have just briefly scanned through the entire thread, and I am not sure I see ad hominem attacks, certainly no more than usual. Perhaps you could highlight them for me.

 

You then talk about lefties, which doesn't personally bother me, but I am sure you don't mean it as a compliment.

 

[octave]

32 minutes ago, Grumpy Old Nasho said:

Actually, it was 2025 that saw the highest number of immigrants, a record number.

This is not an ad hominem attack, just merely reporting facts. If there are alternative sources, then I am more than happy to consider them.

 

This is the best “headline” number (arrivals minus departures).

• 2022–23: ~536,000 → highest on record
• 2023–24: ~429,000 → still extremely high
• 2024–25: ~306,000 → fell significantly

👉 So by this main measure, 2025 was not the highest—it was already coming down from a post-COVID surge.

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

Whatever .... that's still 1 million 271,000 in just three years ... where's the sense in that?

 

It's ANZAC day tomorrow, let's bow our heads when the Sun comes up and remember the fallen. 

[octave]

48 minutes ago, Grumpy Old Nasho said:

Whatever .... that's still 1 million 271,000 in just three years ... where's the sense in that?

You should note that my correction was merely to your numbers, not to your main argument.  It is crucial for all sides of any debate to use the available resources to ensure that your argument is supported by accurate data.   The resources of the net allow us to present figures that, even if not 100% accurate, are at least somewhat accurate. I am sure there have been times when I have presented statistics that turn out to be less than accurate, which I find highly embarrassing.

 

Australia’s economic model is built around growth, and population growth has been a big part of that.

Without migration, our population would age much faster. Like Japan, we would see a shrinking share of working-age people supporting a growing number of retirees.

 

That shift matters because fewer workers means less tax revenue, while demand for healthcare, aged care, and pensions increases.

Australia’s system—especially superannuation—helps reduce pressure compared to some countries, but it doesn’t eliminate it. An ageing population still creates a gap that has to be filled somehow.

In practice, that leaves a limited set of choices: higher taxes, reduced government support, later retirement, or increased migration to maintain the workforce.

Migration isn’t the only solution, but it is one of the most immediate ways to keep the balance between workers and retirees from deteriorating too quickly.

Without some combination of these adjustments, maintaining current living standards in retirement becomes more difficult over time.                                  The reality is you can’t have a rapidly ageing population and expect the same level of support in retirement without trade-offs. The numbers simply don’t balance.

 

 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by octave

[old man emu]

9 minutes ago, octave said:

Australia’s economic model is built around growth,

There's not much growth whenour manufactruring base has been exported to low wage countries. We still are up there with the leaders in intellectual property, but that too goes overseas. We don't apply it to create employment here.

[facthunter]

You are a very Patient person Octave and put a lot of effort into correcting erroneous figures and statements, There's a hell of a lot of deliberate Misinformation out there so we ALL should put  a more critical eye on stuff from dubious sources for Nefarious Reasons . You have consistently done this for a Long time and I thank you greatly for your efforts. Nev

[octave]

10 minutes ago, old man emu said:

There's not much growth whenour manufactruring base has been exported to low wage countries.

I am not particularly knowledgeable in the field of economics; however, growth surely is not purely the production of manufactured goods. As an individual economic unit, I made a good living selling a service, not an item. If I sold my services overseas, the profit would be every bit as important as the income for selling wheelbarrows. 

 

[facthunter]

It's more a fact of Larger Countries having a large enough home Market to support mass production and the Low unit cost THAT offers. It's often Materials Plus a figure  MUCH less than the Materials.  Robots and CNC machines with computers can operate in a lot of Places.. Factories in China are as big as Towns. IF Trump went there, He'd have a fit once he saw it..Nev

[ClintonB]

I watched a video from Spanian, the Sydney chap who spent a time in jail and now travels and eats out recording his travels.

in Paris he had a guide who had lived in Sydney who was from France. She took him through the city. There were many parts where the Parisians are scared to go, at least alone and female due to the large number of male immigrants living in tent cities under the bridges and on the foot paths. Spanian is a scary enough looking dude and many of them wanted to front up to him just for being there. 
that type of migration is not beneficial to society. 
when I was younger I remember everyone talking about the Greeks and Italians that came to Australia. They worked hard, opened shops, built houses and became the new Australians I know there are other groups that have done similar. Without this type of input we would be pretty boring. All the new foods and culture brought here has been beneficial to all.

gangs of youths wandering the streets with machetes and committing crime are not welcome. Some of these groups are children of people who escaped pretty bad situations in their home countries, but the youth seem to not appreciate the fortune of living in a good country, perhaps dreaming of being gangsters from too many poor influences.

maybe sending these ones back to where they (or their parents) are from for punishment might be the answer, then they may appreciate what they had.

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, ClintonB said:

in Paris he had a guide who had lived in Sydney who was from France. She took him through the city. There were many parts where the Parisians are scared to go, at least alone and female due to the large number of male immigrants living in tent cities under the bridges and on the foot paths.

We've got a local town a bit like that but it's not immigrants, just hoards of ice addicts. I don't feel at ease there during the day and would never go there at night, not that I have any reason to. Last week I was there and got talking in the street to a bloke I used to work with. He told me he was in town at night recently and a couple of them with a knife came up to him and demanded money or they said they'd kill him. He threw the bloke with the knife off the footbridge into the creek which is a long drop, and the other bloke wouldn't give up so he was forced to batter him a bit until he ran away.