Almost one in three

摘要

THE prime reason for the decline in living standards for many Australian workers is our staggering population growth," thunders Dick Smith, a campaigning millionaire, in an apocalyptic manifesto. He is right about the staggering growth. The number of children the average Australian woman has fell below two in the 1970s and has stayed there. Yet since then Australia's population has grown by 70%, thanks almost entirely to immigration. Over 28% of today's residents were born overseas-a higher share than in Canada or New Zealand, let alone Britain or America. The number of newcomers continues to grow. Net overseas migration (a measure of immigrants minus departing Aussies) has nearly doubled since 2000.