The ABC has entered some kind of pure population propaganda state in which not only are those that favour Big Australia promoted vociferously, it is now creating a cult of personality around them. As noted last week, population booster Dr Liz Allen is not an economist’s elbow and demonstrably has no idea what the economic impacts of mass immigration are. Her lack of evidence and argument is embarrassingly obvious to anyone with the eyes to see:
Next time you hear people bang on about population size and growth, ask them: what about social inequality? #SizeDoesntMatter #auspol #fairness #ABCTop5 @FarzEdraki @WhatAustThinks @ANUcass @ANUmedia pic.twitter.com/2VHI6AR4Pl
— Dr Liz Allen (@DrDemography) October 26, 2018
As I wrote last week, this is poppycock:
Mass immigration is the number one inequality problem in the country causing:
- lower wages that otherwise;
- higher house prices that otherwise;
- crush-loading of infrastructure for working classes in the areas where migrants mostly settle.
These all hit youth and working classes hardest while a narrow set of corporate interests make rentier gains. That’s why they love it so much.
Other issues like ageing population aging can be resolved easily via productivity reform, participation measures and technology without an immigration class war.Indeed, social inequality or class warfare is exactly why MB is against the mass immigration growth model. And it’s not just us. All of the above has been described at length by the Productivity Commission which long ago concluded that all of the gains of mass immigration go to the migrants and capital and that an ageing population can never be solved by importing people.
Yet today it is revealed that Dr Liz has been anointed by the ABC as:
The ABC’s Top 5 humanities researchers inititiative is a partnership between ABC RN and the University of Sydney. The five researchers will work at the ABC for two weeks in September.
Dr Liz now has the platform to go all-in:
The physical pain of extreme hunger and thirst is something you never forget.
I vividly recall one occasion when, overwhelmed by hunger, I carefully wiped maggots away from a half-eaten roast chicken I’d found discarded.
I was careful not to harm the fly pupae; after all, they were just like me, trying to survive.
I was 16, and the meal was a blessing, a gift.
Memories like these remind me to never forget where I’ve come from. Other memories aren’t as kind.
I’ve lived through sexual abuse, institutionalisation, homelessness, teen motherhood and extreme poverty.
I’m a survivor. And there are many others like me.
Disadvantage fundamentally changes us, as though altering our DNA.
The stories of people who’ve experienced disadvantage paint harrowing pictures of adversity in modern Australia.
And the stories of people overcoming disadvantage offer powerful opportunities for systemic change.
…Opportunities are central to supporting people through disadvantage.
Accessible education and healthcare, in terms of cost and location, are important stepping stones.Responsibility for overcoming disadvantage isn’t that of individuals experiencing it — this is core government business.
Understanding these pathways and using the insights gained provides opportunities to create effective lifelines out of disadvantage.
When we talk about disadvantage and how to address it, the conversation often stays around assessing who is at risk and working on prevention.
But the current state of play in Australia positions disadvantage as inevitable.
Until no Australian is disadvantaged, deviant cases might be our only ticket to redressing inequality.
It’s a horrible story and good on Dr Liz for coming through it.
Where I part ways is in the ABC somehow confusing that with a licence to spout unchallenged and ironic opinions that promote the highly destructive class war at the heart of the ‘Big Australia’ push.
The quality of government and a culture should be measured by how they treat deviancy. But, equally, both must be measured against basic utilitarian principles of the most good for the most people.
‘Big Australia’ fails dismally on that measure. As does Dr Liz Allen and the ABC.
