ELEANOR HALL:
Well Australia's new Population Minister Tony Burke has hit back at the Opposition.
He told chief political correspondent Lyndal Curtis that the population figure of 36 million is neither a Government target nor an ambition.
TONY BURKE:
At the moment most of the discussion has been dealing with national figures as though somehow that fixes the problem. One of the problems has been that we've never tailored it to the different needs in different parts of the country.
LYNDAL CURTIS:
So you could be looking at several different population figures? A population figure for Sydney, one for outer western New South Wales, one for Western Australia?
BURKE:
I don't know how far we drill down, but to be able to have that sort of policy flexibility, those sorts of things I think are very important issues for me to be working through.
CURTIS:
The Opposition has said this morning that it has questions about the 36 million population figure. It does not think that that is sustainable and it thinks maybe there should be a slower rate of growth. Do you think that concerns about a figure like 36 million are valid?
BURKE:
It is a very different position to what Tony Abbott argued only three months ago on the Derryn Hinch program. Only three months ago when the 35 million figure was put to him, his response was he couldn't see a problem with it at all. So I am not sure why we have got the flip flop happening on the Opposition but they actually had very directly wedded themselves to that figure in the Intergenerational Report. Today, they are wanting to weave their way back out of it. Where they will be in two months time, I don't know?
CURTIS:
But the Prime Minister has said previously he wants a big Australia and then he did an interview I think on The 7.30 Report where he didn't say that again. It is true for both sides of politics that you both don't have a figure in mind.
BURKE:
This is where my view and the view of the Government is that the population policies will need to be tailored to the different needs of different parts of the country.
CURTIS:
The Opposition has also raised concerns about the current level of migration both permanent, taking into account the permanent and temporary migration level. They want to see more skilled migrants but fewer numbers in total. Do you think that the time is right for a debate on immigration levels?
BURKE:
I think population policy goes beyond immigration but certainly immigration is one of the drivers. I think we are capable of having a mature debate on this. I was very concerned by a turn in the debate though, with what happened this morning. The Opposition's arguments this morning by choosing the figure that you've just quoted means they are now including overseas students and temporary workers in their criticism of total numbers. Now I don't know whether they have had any consultation with the business community or not but there are a lot of businesses and a lot of jobs in Australia that rely entirely on overseas students or substantially on temporary workers. If the Opposition is planning on cutting those, there is a very real and immediate hit to the Australian economy that they've just walked into.
CURTIS:
But can you look at the issue of migration without looking at those temporary numbers?
BURKE:
Certainly you can, and the Government does every year. That is, in the global recession on the permanent figures, we reduced them. We reduced the migration figures when the global recession hit because of fear of high unemployment. As employment demand returned, the figures were able to increase a bit, that is always tailored to the economic needs each year.
But the Opposition did venture onto very new territory and there's a lot of work tied up, particularly in the international education industry here in Australia and I think we should be looking very, very carefully at the words of Scott Morrison today.
CURTIS:
Will you be looking at all areas of government policy including one that the National Farmers Federation has raised, taxation? It says it would like changes in tax treatment to encourage people to regional Australia. Is that something that could be an option on your table?
BURKE:
I think it is important when I say the different areas of Australia that we don't view regional Australia as being an identical sector across the board. There are parts of regional Australia that could carry more people and it would be in their interests to do so. There are also parts of regional Australia where water infrastructure in particular and already significant unemployment, means that you wouldn't want to be adding more people to those parts of the country. I don't think it is as simplistic as saying let's just view regional Australia in one hit but the sorts of policies you refer to, are among the levers available to government in developing a strategy.
CURTIS:
And how will you judge if your job has been a success?
BURKE:
I reckon there will be plenty of people judging it for me, but I don't think we can pretend that we are going to get everything right when this is the first population strategy that the nation has ever had. I am determined though, to have a very serious path of consultation in the coming months to make sure that the different views and the different challenges in different parts of Australia, are all on the table as we develop the strategy.
HALL:
That's the Population Minister Tony Burke speaking to Lyndal Curtis in Canberra.