🚨Migrants Power Australia’s Essential Workforce — The Facts Behind the Immigration Debate Australia’s immigration debate is often dominated by fear, blame and political slogans. But new workforce figures show a very different reality: overseas-born workers are deeply embedded in the essential services Australians rely on every day. Across healthcare, care work, construction and agriculture, migrant workers make up a major share of the workforce. These are not abstract numbers. These are the doctors treating patients, nurses working in hospitals, carers supporting older Australians, childcare workers helping families, builders constructing homes and farm workers keeping food supply chains moving. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data and government workforce analysis, overseas-born workers make up a significant proportion of key essential roles. The figures include 57 per cent of GPs, 47 per cent of surgeons, 43 per cent of nurses, 40 per cent of aged and disability carers, 37 per cent of child carers, 37 per cent of plasterers, 28 per cent of building labourers and 52 per cent of farm workers. The message is clear: migrants are not separate from Australia’s economy. They are part of the foundation holding many essential services together. This is especially important in healthcare. Australia is already facing pressure across hospitals, general practice clinics and aged-care services. In many regional areas, overseas-born doctors, nurses and carers are not simply filling gaps — they are helping keep entire communities connected to basic healthcare. The same is true in agriculture. If more than half of farm workers are overseas-born, then Australia’s food system is directly connected to migration. Every debate about migration should also ask who is growing, picking, packing and delivering the food Australians rely on. Construction tells another important story. Australia is in the middle of a housing shortage, yet building more homes requires workers. Migrants are part of the construction workforce needed to deliver housing, infrastructure and regional development. Cutting migration without a serious workforce plan could make existing shortages worse, not better. This does not mean immigration policy should never be debated. Housing, infrastructure, wages, training and public services all matter. But the debate must be honest. Blaming migrants for every pressure in the system ignores the fact that migrants are also helping keep that system running. The real issue is policy failure. Australia needs better housing planning, stronger worker protections, investment in training, improved regional services and migration settings that are fair, sustainable and properly managed. Anti-immigration politics often turns complex problems into a simple blame game. Housing shortages are blamed on migrants, even though they are also caused by years of underbuilding, planning failures, investor incentives and infrastructure gaps. Wage pressure is blamed on foreign workers, even though weak bargaining power, insecure work and corporate profit-taking also play major roles. Migrants are often blamed for pressure in the system while simultaneously being relied upon to support that same system. That contradiction sits at the heart of Australia’s immigration debate. Australia deserves a better conversation. Migrants are not just numbers in a political argument. They are workers, taxpayers, small business owners, families, neighbours and community members. They care for Australians, build for Australians, grow food for Australians and help keep regional towns alive. A serious immigration debate should be based on facts, not fear.

The latest rental vacancy rate data from @SQMResearch shows that vacancy rates remain below 1% in most capital cities and are well below their long-term average level in every capital city. No surprise then that they also report advertised rents are continuing to rise. Interestingly, some of the markets with very low rental vacancy rates have seen only moderate increases in rents over the year. This suggests that renters are perhaps getting to the end of their capacity to continue to pay more for rent, or it could highlight that it is lower quality rental stock which is becoming available for rent. Every capital city is seeing advertised rental growth in excess of inflation.

This block of government-owned land, in the heart of Brisbane, was left to sit vacant by the former Labor government for a decade. Today, after just four months, we’ve locked in our plan to deliver more than 450 homes on it, including aged care and affordable housing. Early works are set to begin in a matter of months. After a decade of decline under Labor, we are pulling every lever possible to boost supply and deliver a place to call home for more Queenslanders.

This is what the forecast for migration looked like in Labor's first budget in October 2022. They were off by over half a million people over the three financial year's forecast. A very poor record.