Our national frenemy: Australian National University

That's also misleading. Statistically, highly skilled (highly paid) migrants are only ever a minority, of our net (or permanent) migration intakes. In particular, the student-migrant cohort has on average pretty mediocre employment and skill outcomes.

Our 21^st century prime ministers, however, have always claimed the opposite. None more so than "migration nation" Albanese with his "global talent" crusade. And ANU has primed their narrative.

ANU's 1995-2016 Demography chief Peter McDonald successfully spruiked Australia "converting" student and 457 visas into permanent visas. And also, big migration would magically cure the (overrated) fiscal terrors of population ageing .

Meantime, ANU's Glenn Withers was designing our "skilled" migration points "system", an artifice that continues to hoodwink other nations.

In Labor's December 2023 Migration Strategy, ANU is "commissioned" once again, to help "reform" the points. While Nobel Laureate migrant Schmidt himself, constitutes an adorable "case study".

"Skilled migrants" and "ageing population" are now embedded in popular culture, as central fibs of Huge Australia. Reinforcing this constantly are McDonald's celebrity proteges, ANU's self-styled "Dr Demography" Liz Allen and "independent expert" Abul Rizvi. No wonder McDonald just got that big gong for "services" to demography and policy.

It's not his personal fault, if Albanese is topping Rudd's 24-month migration extravaganza (560,000) by an eye-popping 60%. But was he entirely careful, I wonder, in what he wished for?

Did he consider the consequences, for ordinary Australians? Plummeting productivity, falling household incomes andreal wages, historic rental crisis, and world-class housing unaffordability .

Having delivered the goods on population, "national" ANU has found fresh international pastures. Promulgated only from 2016-18, the United Nations conceit of "net zero emissions" by 2050 has quickly become the new black. For ANU and ALP alike.

To get with the program, ANU created a Climate Institute ranging across its seven colleges. Net zero 2050 being insufficiently cloud cuckoo land, this cohort urges net zero 2035.

Imagine my surprise, to hear of them criticising Huge Australia. Turns out, it's a bit true.

The first half of the Institute Director's 2024 Climate Update is the familiar tale of urgent woe. Record emissions, hottest year on record, high temperatures everywhere, racing towards 1.5C global warming, the world's and Australia's (ahem) "challenging" emissions "trajectories".