Australians are having fewer children with the fertility rate tumbling. The treasurer says people should think about having more kids.
Ahead of next week’s federal budget that will reveal new plans to boost housing for the country’s burgeoning population and forecast a drop in immigration, Chalmers said the government wanted to give people support if they wanted to have children, but ruled out a Peter Costello-style baby bonus.
Australia’s population climbed by 2.5 per cent to 26.8 million over the past year, driven overwhelmingly by a spike in immigration. “All of these things are about trying to make it easier for people to have more kids if they want to, and to work more if they want to after they’ve had their kids,” he said.
“It requires more Commonwealth investment, we will do our bit. It requires the states and territories to do their bit, and I’m confident that they will.” The housing policies come as the government admits the pressures in major cities from the influx of overseas students and other migrants. The revised forecast will show a fall to 260,000 the subsequent year before the intake returns to about 235,000, in line with the annual intake before the pandemic.
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