By design, Albanese’s ‘huge Australia’ population-drive has bypassed voters

Universities? Counting the overseas-student loot. Unions? Bit quiet.

Contrast with the Bob Hawke era. Our inveterate punter backed migration - but also training. Inaugurated traineeships for Young Australians. Anyone remember who they are?

Wealth and inequality are thrashing labour. Courtesy Big Australia - our worst productivity growth for decades. Crude GDP growth, yes. But per-capita GDP and real wages going backwards. Plummeting rental affordability and urban amenity. Energy shocks worsening.

Way to go, Treasurer.Whispers the top 10%. Amen. Chip in the Future Fund guardians.

The immigration hogwash keeps on escalating. After December, the immigration numbers soared. The hogwash keeps up. Sadly, the homeless can't.

As early as 2020, usual suspects concocted that "recovering lost migrants" yarn. Now, Treasury is fibbing our "smaller and older" population. Gaslighting voters.

Treasurer swerved . From 235,000 to 300,000 net migration. To a record 350,000. Possibly even 400,000. Media snoozed.

Adapting Josh Frydenberg's abortive 2019 targets, Albanese had the best yarn. In his twist, the all-time migration is "much lower than it would have been and was predicted by the former government".

Treasury and Guardian gloss these humungous numbers. As a "temporary surge".

Meantime, O'Neil clutches another "Yes Minister" report. Supposedly addressing, the grotesque immigration exploitations.

First, crank immigration visas sky high. Then tough cop cases the crime scene. Cue crocodile-tears, from Scanlon supported "think" tank. Finally, bring on the next rort.

Good government starts today, eh? Although, the beltway journalists endorse Albanese. For cautious activism and shrewd management. On selected fronts, maybe. On population, environment, equality? At war with the people.