Recall that the Teal federal member for Wentworth (capturing Sydney’s wealthy eastern suburbs), Allegra Spender, penned two articles last year demanding a big lift in immigration, while also contradictorily demanding lower carbon emissions (see here and here):

“In Wentworth, migration is a priority… That means providing more flexibility for businesses to bring in the people they need; for example, by introducing a simple salary threshold for skilled visa eligibility”.

“It means providing a permanent residence pathway for all those on Temporary Skills Shortage and Temporary Graduate visas”…

“We need to deliver a campaign and a policy-set that promotes Australia as the destination of choice for temporary migrants”.

“We can keep talented people here by implementing a minimum two-year term for all Temporary Graduate visas, with eligibility for renewal”.

“We can expand eligibility for repeat working holiday visas for those already contributing to our economy. We can extend and broaden the relaxation of work restrictions on international students. And revert to four-year terms for all Temporary Skills Shortage visas”.

Alegra Spender’s mass immigration demands came after her profile espouses the beauty of living in Sydney’s wealthy east, close to amenities and the beach:

“My Dad’s family has been in Wentworth for generations and growing up here was incredible – swimming in the ocean, doing the Bondi to Bronte walk, cycling around Centennial Park, going to the local restaurants and cafes – and all at the doorstep of the inner city”.

“That’s why I am raising my kids here and am so passionate that we give our kids the quality of life and opportunities that I had”.

Neighbouring Teal member for Warringah (capturing Sydney’s wealthy northern beaches), Zali Steggal, also backed a big lift in immigration to combat labour shortages.

Spender and Steggal got their wish, with the Albanese Government using the fake Jobs & Skills Summit, contrived “visa backlogs” and the migration review to ramp immigration to all-time highs, including by increasing the number of years international students can live and work in Australia post-graduation.

The Albanese Government has also signed migration pacts with India to ensure immigration remains red hot going forward.

The result is that net overseas migration and population growth hit an all-time high in 2022, driving an unprecedented rental shortage:

Australia’s population is also projected to grow by a record 2.18 million people over the five years to 2026-27, driven by extreme immigration of 1.5 million.

And this is occurring at the same time as dwelling construction is falling due to widespread builder insolvencies and soaring costs, thus ensuring Australia’s housing shortage will get worse:

But never fear, Allegra Spender has the solution: a citizen’s assembly “bringing together 100 homeowners, renters and mortgage holders to talk about how to solve Australia’s housing affordability crisis”:

The Teals are so depressingly fake.

Given most of the beneficiaries of Teal’s lunatic population growth live in the “posh” suburbs that Spender and Steggal represent, I can think of no better places to dump migrants in high-density apartment towers.

How about it Allegra?

Image: Allegra Spender (left) & friend / https://ipa.org.au/ipa-today/the-teal-party

By Leith van Onselen, 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

Reprinted with permission. You can read the original article at https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2023/06/the-unbelievable-housing-hypocrisy-of-the-teals/

Branko Miletic

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