The looming tradie crisis: Immigration cap will cut construction jobs

Scott Morrison’s plan to cap migration will slow the construction industry and force thousands of tradesmen out of a job, an economist has warned.

The Prime Minister on Tuesday announced plans to set a limit of 160,000 permanent migrants per year.

A slowdown in population growth would mean fewer houses need to be built, causing a decrease in the number of jobs available to tradesman, according to Housing Industry Association chief economist Tim Reardon.

A slowdown in population growth would mean fewer houses need to be built, causing a decrease in the number of jobs available to tradesman, according to Housing Industry Association chief economist Tim Reardon (stock image)

‘If we see a contraction in population growth at this point in the cycle, that would accelerate the downturn in home-building activity and have stronger implications for the wider economy,’ he told The Australian. 

‘One in 10 Australians is ­employed in building and construction… This is not the right time in the cycle to apply the brakes on population growth.’ 

Meanwhile, other industries face a ‘labour-supply crunch’ – meaning there are not enough people to fill roles, according to University of Melbourne demography professor Peter ­McDonald.

Mr Morrison has pledged that 1.25million more jobs will be created but Mr McDonald said there is ‘no way in the world’ these roles can be filled without immigration. 

 Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) is preparing to slash Australia’s immigration intake

This table shows how Australia’s population increased the most in Victoria by 2.2 per cent and decreased in the Norther Territory by -0.2 per cent in the 12 months to September

‘Given the labour-supply crunch that Australia faces at the moment, it does not make econo­mic sense to cut the migrant intake,’ he said.

Federal Labour remains open-minded about a total migration cap but has pledged to take in more refugees. 

Figures showed migration into Australia in the year to September was down from the previous year.

There were 240,100 immigrants compared with 259,400 the year before, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

Announcing his plans on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said debate about the number of migrants moving to Australia each year was not related to the value of immigration to the country.

‘Just because Australians are frustrated about traffic jams and population pressures encroaching on their quality of life, especially in this city, does not mean they are anti-migrant or racist,’ he said.

A regional settlement policy – which will require people in the general skilled migrant scheme to live in cities other than Sydney and Melbourne for at least five years – has also been approved by cabinet.   

Labor frontbencher Mark Butler said the policy appeared to be the status quo.

‘If Scott Morrison has some detail he wants to show to us or the Australian community, obviously we’d be willing to look at it,’ he told ABC Radio National.

The government has also been hinting at spreading migrants across the states and territories to ease pressure on infrastructure, without outlining any concrete details about how this would work.

Its policies are expected to centre on forcing skilled migrants to live for at least five years in cities other than Sydney or Melbourne, and enticing university students into regional towns.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale questioned the timing of the debate, which has re-emerged shortly after 50 people were murdered in New Zealand mosques last week.

‘Three days after a massacre the prime minister decides to land this into the national conversation,’ he told ABC News Breakfast. 

Mr Morrison said there was a ‘tribalism’ distorting the discussion of issues such as immigration. Pictured: Office workers walk to work in the Sydney CBD