Can it really be true, that closed borders help local employment and boost Aussie gross domestic product, benefitting Australia’s trade balance by $28 billion? It’s a deeply unpalatable thought, but a hard one to dismiss.
Australia’s unemployment rate – now at 4.2% – has reached its lowest level in more than a decade. It is very close to sliding below 4%, an employment achievement that hasn’t been seen for the best part of half a century.
So how come?
Sally McManus, Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, is in no doubt about the reason. Unemployment has fallen to this historic level because the borders are closed, she posted on Twitter.
“It has nothing to do with the Morrison government’s economic management,” McManus said. “As soon as the election is over, they will rush to return to huge levels of wage theft and exploitation of visa workers.”
Her apparent view of the likely outcome of the election may be a surprise to some.
McManus has also slammed the Morrison government for trying to push through “its ideological Religious Discrimination Bill while failing to take urgently needed action in aged care or address any of the other crises caused by inaccessible and unaffordable RATs”.
Other commentators argue the economic situation is more complex.
One aspect of closed borders has definitely boosted GDP, however.
Traditionally, Australians spend more overseas each year than Australia makes from tourists coming here. Economist Saul Eslake pointed out recently in an article in the Australian Financial Times that banning Australians from leaving their own country has meant that much of the money they otherwise would have spent overseas has been spent at home.
Bureau of Statistics figures suggest that closing the border might have contributed $28 billion to Australia’s trade balance compared to 2019.
For a good analysis of the complexity of the situation, this article by three experts from the Grattan Institute in The Conversation is worth reading.
Written by Peter Needham
Do closed borders and no tourism help Australian economy?
Rate:
