Statement by CCI Chief Executive James Pearson

With WA employers finding it harder and harder to find the workers they need, CCI is concerned that Australia’s politicians are trying to outbid each other to see who can slow population growth the most.  

Cutting migration numbers, as has most recently been proposed by the Liberal Party, will be bad for WA.

At a time when local employers need hundreds of thousands of extra workers over the coming years, it makes no sense to cut back on the size of the available workforce.

Research by the State’s peak business organisation, CCI, forecasts that WA business, big and small, and across all sectors and regions, will need almost half a million extra workers over the next decade.

If we continue with current population trends, the State will face a shortfall of more than 200,000 workers. A smaller population would hinder WA’s economic growth, and job creation, which will be bad news for future generations.

Australians need not fear a growing population. What we need is a calm, mature and sensible debate about the Nation’s population, and how the country can plan for it.

The question we should be asking is how do we support a larger population, not how we can hold it back.

CCI calls on the Nation’s political leaders to work with the business community to find the answers we need.