Australia to open borders next year
Australia will open its borders next year in a budget plan to bring back migrants and speed up the economic recovery, amid federal government fears that growth cannot be sustained if travellers are kept away and citizens kept at home.
In a key warning against closed borders, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he believed in restoring migration to the levels seen before the pandemic as soon as the government’s health experts declared it possible.
Frydenberg also doused talk of a boost to the economy from Australians who cannot leave the country, saying this was adding to spending but was only temporary.
‘‘It’s a pandemic effect, not a permanent one,’’ he said.
The federal budget, to be delivered by Frydenberg today, will include core assumptions for coronavirus vaccinations and infections to aim for the opening of the international border in 2022, several months after the forecast in the budget seven months ago.
‘‘The borders will reopen when it’s safe to do so, and when they do, net overseas migration will increase, including skilled workers,’’ Frydenberg told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
‘‘And those skilled workers play a very important role across the economy, but we’re not going to compromise public safety, or indeed the economic recovery, by moving ahead of the medical advice.’’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected the idea of a ‘‘fortress Australia’’ in comments on Sunday to correct media reports saying he wanted the border to stay closed in order to eliminate Covid-19.
‘‘Australia’s Covid suppression strategy has not changed to an ‘elimination’ strategy nor is ‘zero cases’ our goal as reported,’’ he said on Facebook.
‘‘There will always be cases as we return Australians home from overseas. International borders will only open when it is safe to do so.’’
Frydenberg said he wanted to restore migration to the level seen before the pandemic, which was 239,700 in 2018-19, according to population figures in the federal budget last October.
‘‘We will get back to it over time,’’ he said. ‘‘Obviously, net overseas migration went negative through this crisis. You’ll see Treasury’s forecast for the coming years on Tuesday night, but that again is a pandemic effect, not a permanent change.
‘‘I believe in a generous, sustainable immigration programme that reflects the best of who we are, which is an open, tolerant, diverse country.’’
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said last week that the closed borders had highlighted the country’s reliance on temporary migrant workers and that ‘‘we should be investing in training Australians’’ to fill the skill shortages.