The scary reason why Australia is addicted to high immigration - here's what the alternative is

Australia is addicted to high immigration so it can have more working-age people to tax as couples have fewer children and the population ages, a government report says. Treasury has warned the alternative to high immigration would be even higher income taxes, as those over 70 made up a bigger share of the population in coming decades. The working-age component of Australia's population peaked in 2005-06, when 48.5 per cent of the population paid income tax and a large generation of Australians was still working. Treasury has warned the alternative to high immigration would be even higher income taxes, as those over 70 made up a bigger share of the population in coming decades The working-age component of Australia's population peaked in 2005-06, when 48.5 per cent of the population paid income tax Downsides of high immigration Deloitte conceded a reduction in temporary migration, based on high numbers of international students, would reduce demand for rental accommodation during a cost of living crisis. Deloitte's 'Right Sizing The Workforce' report calculated the recent immigration surge meant the nation was home to 693,600 more working age people than before the pandemic In December, there were 17.5million people aged 15 to 64 Sydney's median house price surged by 12.8 per cent in the year to January to an even more unaffordable $1.395million CoreLogic data showed, despite a series of aggressive Reserve Bank interest rate rises.