After the NSW Government last month admitted that the migrant intake is “out of control” and demanded it be cut in half, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has tasked a three-member panel with convincing the federal government to help lower the rate of immigration into the state. From ABC News:
Highlighting what she said was the pressure immigration was putting on the infrastructure of “the largest and most successful state in Australia”, Ms Berejiklian this morning said it was time to “take stock and get ahead”.
“NSW’s economic success is attracting a far greater share of total immigrant numbers than it has in the past,” she said.
“We are in the midst of an unprecedented infrastructure boom in NSW.
“But it is clear that despite a record infrastructure pipeline, Sydney and NSW are still playing catch-up”…
The “expert panel” will assess the current rate of population growth and infrastructure pipeline in NSW, the time needed for infrastructure to “catch up” with population growth rates and asses NSW’s role at upcoming discussions with the Federal Government on the issue.
The panel will include Infrastructure NSW chief executive Jim Betts, University of Western Sydney chancellor Peter Shergold and NSW Department of Planning and Environment Secretary Carolyn McNally.
It is expected to report to the Premier within two months…
Opposition spokesman Michael Daley said the announcement of the panel was a sign the Premier was worried about her polling ahead of the state election…
He said Labor’s position is for the states to sit down with the Commonwealth and the Productivity Commission to decide on an immigration policy with the states able to have their say.
Gladys Berejiklian also took to the airwaves repeating her call for immigration to be halved:
“We are spending more than any other government has ever spent on infrastructure… and we’re still playing catch up”.“What I do want to do is make sure I shout from the rooftops that New South Wales, as a larger state, the most successful state in the nation, deserves to have a say on these issues.”
“It’s about providing for our future a good quality of life. That’s why I’ve said let’s take a breather.”
Meanwhile, anti-development sentiment continues to escalate within the Berejiklian Government, with the state’s finance minister, Victor Dominello, joining the conga-line of MPs demanding that housing targets be slashed in their electorate. From The SMH:
Mr Dominello has already helped secure a two-year freeze on new rezoning applications for residential housing in Ryde… But the Finance Minister is also pushing for a longer-term reduction in the volume of new homes to be delivered in the area. In March, the Greater Sydney Commission set a five-year housing target for Ryde of 7600 new dwellings.
“At the end of this two years there is no chance in Hades that I won’t be advocating for those targets not plummet to reflect something that is more consistent with Lane Cove and Hunters Hill… I will be demanding it”…
The five-year housing target for Hunters Hill is 150 new dwellings; the Lane Cove target is 1900 dwellings.
The immigration consensus has clearly crumbled in NSW, with both Liberal and Labor demanding cuts.
We’ve always said that the immigration battle would be won in NSW, given the extreme pressures being felt in Sydney. Maintaining the mass immigration status quo makes absolutely no sense given Infrastructure Australia’s own projections are for worsening congestion and reduced access to jobs, schools, hospitals and open space as Sydney’s population balloons to 7.4 million people by 2046, irrespective of how the city is built-out:
The bottom line is that the mass immigration ‘Big Australia’ policy has become toxic in NSW. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time before the federal government is forced to cut the intake.
