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In an effort to alleviate pressure on the big cities in Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has proposed a new population plan that will cut its cap on migration by 15%. The new population plan will also issue new visas that require skilled workers to live in regional areas. By reducing the annual migration ceiling from 190,000 places to 160,00, Australia will have the lowest level in the past ten years.

It is no surprise Australia is enacting new migrant limitations as over the past three decades Australia’s population has increased by 50%. This increase in population has lowered wage growth and made housing more expensive. Even though new people coming into Australia has created some problems, immigration has also been a core driver of their economic growth.

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Another big part of the plan will require as many as 23,000 people to live and work in regional Australia for three years to be able to claim permanent residence. Australia is in need of regional workers because it has been estimated that there are 47,000 job vacancies outside of the cities. In a survey done by Lowy Institute, more than 50% of Australians believe that too many migrants are coming to Australia, while 30% claim it’s enough and 14% said it’s too few. Currently, in Australia, 70% of migrants are already skilled workers and the government wants to move the new skilled workers from the city to regional locations.

Australia is known for allowing migrants and refugees into their country, but to keep costs down and maintain the infrastructure Austalia has to implement this new population plan. This could be very beneficial to the people and economy of Australia as they will have tighter control over immigration leading to a stronger country.