Sydneysiders pay for endless immigration
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I’ve long argued that water is the ‘elephant in the room’ of the immigration debate, something policymakers and pro-Big Australia supporters never acknowledge.
A series of reports has warned that Australia faces chronic water shortages and rising water bills as its population grows by millions due to persistently high immigration volumes.

For example, a 2021 report by the Productivity Commission (PC) warned that the projected 11 million increase in the populations of Australia’s cities “present significant risks to the security of Australia’s water resources”.
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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.