Labor Party spokeswoman Clare O’Neil wants the best engineers and IT experts and the smartest data analysts to settle in Australia on a permanent basis (‘‘Migration should focus on skilled professionals: Labor’’, 25/11). These people were trained at considerable cost by their own countries. Bluntly speaking, to snatch them from their countries is simply theft …

Theft of skills is not a good migration policy Read More »

Re ‘‘Melbourne exodus a huge hit to economy’’ (The Age, 3/11). But a larger economy does not make a more desirable city. Are we aiming to be like Beijing or Los Angeles? Ask Melburnians (not the property industry) what factors would indicate a better city. Ask those who are trying to buy a home, are delayed …

More than the economy Read More »

Bring on a “civilised discussion about population” but Elizabeth Farrelly’s contribution to it underwhelms (“Eight billion humans can’t all be wrong, but we do need a civilised discussion about population”, October 31-November 1). Farrelly recognises the inevitably awful outcomes of overpopulation – “famine, disease, war” – but sets up a straw man when she insists …

Population debate, difficult but necessary Read More »

What a wonderful thing, our population growth has slowed. This is a very small reprieve from the ongoing devastation we cause to the natural environment through consumption, resource depletion, pollution and conversion of productive land to suburbs. COVID-19 recovery funding could be used to pivot to a “no population growth” economy. Economic growth without population …

Some good news Read More »