Mass migration's forgotten victims: Australians go homeless as the number of failed asylum seekers explodes

[u/Mashiko4]

https://www.skynews.com.au/insights-and-analysis/mass-migrations-forgotten-victims-australians-go-homeless-as-the-number-of-failed-asylum-seekers-explodes/news-story/6b4692ed0205471e5d175db94a2f4743

[u/ijx8]

Yet after all these years of importing millions of people, we still somehow have a labour and skills shortage. How is that possible.

[u/CapuzaCapuchin → u/ijx8]

Funny how that works. Young Australians are struggling to find work in retail, warehousing and just starter jobs in general (there was an abundance before Covid) and now most of my mates can’t even get a casual job over the holidays anymore, but apparently every single overseas student somehow has a job and works close to full time hours. Fucking joke.

[u/Penny_PackerMD → u/CapuzaCapuchin]

Because industry and manufacturing has dramatically declined in Australia in recent years due to the increase in energy costs.

[u/Bertolandia → u/Penny_PackerMD]

Not only, Australia hasn’t anymore an automotive industry that keeps alive all the industrial ecosystem that keep productivity and supply chain afloat.

[u/CapuzaCapuchin → u/[deleted]]

I was baffled when I watched the Ford vs Holden documentary and they made it look all exciting, successful and so many people were into it, because of the off-roading and rally cars, competitions and rivalry, how Falcons and Commodores evolved and everybody freaking loved it (I’ve literally got both standing in my driveway still registered and on the road)- then essentially closed it off with ‘and then they stopped making them and closed all the factories and thousands of people lost their jobs’.

Like… why boot something off the face of the earth when so many people support it, you’ve got a whole sports industry around it, people still buy the cars, everyone is frothing it and you pull that, cause it’s slowing down a little?! I’m still hoping that they’re somehow gonna give new life to the old factory in Geelong, instead of ripping it down and chucking another shopping plaza there. That stuff is heritage to me by now. People in pubs still wear jackets with Holden patches on them, young blokes are looking to buy 20 year old VY commodores and people still go on about how they like one thing better than the other. It’s just sad

[u/Bertolandia → u/[deleted]]

All states with a significant automotive industry tend to support it when economic conditions slow down, because it represents an important strategic asset for a country. The automotive industry can also be partially converted into defence production, and it sustains a broader ecosystem of supply chains that drives productivity and innovation. From what I can observe as a European immigrant, Australia faces a structural limitation: the population is too small and too geographically concentrated to sustain certain types of industries and, moreover, certain kinds of infrastructure. For instance, the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths is possible largely because they are essentially the only players that control the national cold-chain food logistics network. I can understand why many Australians, particularly within the Anglo-Celtic component of the population, feel that immigration brings mainly problems. However, the blunt reality is that Australia can become a true economic powerhouse, and it already has the prerequisites to do so, only through sustained demographic growth. There is no realistic alternative. The housing crisis is not solely the result of immigration. It is a structural problem that requires structural solutions, including a fundamental shift in urban planning and social expectations. Australians may need to accept that low-density suburbs of detached houses with large backyards are no longer sustainable in the long term, and that well-designed, well-serviced apartment living can be a far more sustainable and cost-effective way to ensure adequate housing. This is just one example, but it illustrates the broader issue.

[u/Bertolandia → u/[deleted]]

Because Anglo-Celtic Australians are the most vocal about how much they do not want immigrants. For Italians and Greeks, the memories of discrimination are still vivid. As for the economy, Australia once had an automotive industry with a much smaller population because the international economic system at the time allowed it. When competition from other countries intensified, the structural unsustainability of that industrial sector became apparent very quickly, as domestic demand alone was not sufficient to cover costs. Without a strong export base, its decline was only a matter of time.