When Spending $4 Billion A year To Keep People Out Of A country Makes No Economic Sense.

When it comes to small business, on the whole we tend to empathize with the little guy, as really there isn’t much of a gap between the owner of the business and the person who you deal with as a customer. You tend to get far superior service from a business owner than an employee, as of course, the business owner naturally benefits from the goodwill created by satisfied customers.

While living in Australia I had the pleasure of dealing with many different, local small businesses and most times when I used them the service was always exemplary. One particular business I frequented was a husband and wife-owned dry cleaners, which had grown since it’s opening and become a horizontally diversified operation, offering alterations, tailoring and shoe repair services. The delightful proprietors hailed from Sri Lanka and they, together with their offspring, worked long hours from the slightly shop soiled emporium to make their enterprise thrive. The service was always exceptional and their pricing often so low I sometimes felt guilty once I had picked up my goods.

Once, when dropping off a number of shirts for washing and ironing I read two frames on the wall. One housed a certificate of business registration from 1991 from which I was able to calculate that the couple must have been in their mid to late thirties when they opened for business. It was however the second document that caught my eye, which was a certificate of completion of a small business, course from the Migrant Resource Centre. It struck me that this Mum and Dad small business was classic example of the very best of Australia. I should imagine that they arrived on those shores with limited English, with little or no family support but, with the help of the Migrant Resource Center, and a sense of optimism were able to establish their enterprise. After years of hard work they had created an essential business, providing a vital service to the local community and, by doing so, managed to build a new, and a perhaps a better life for themselves.

This example of a ‘family business’ is a classic example of why the Australian Federal Government's (and the Opposition's) views towards migrants (be they skilled migrants or refugees) makes for terrible economic sense. Leaving aside for a moment the morality of the refugee debate, from a purely business perspective, it seems bizarre that recent governments are not welcoming any new labour that wishes desperately to settle in a sparsely populated country, build a business and essentially make a difference. The sad fact is that presently, sitting governments now spends billions of dollars a year actively stopping new labour from contributing to the economy.

By increasing the supply of both skilled and unskilled labour (many refugees are highly skilled engineers, doctors and lawyers, etc. who simply had the bad luck to be born in the wrong country) is a massive benefit to the economy, any economy for that matter. Most businesses and government wax lyrical about productivity improvements, and yet right before their eyes is a perfect solution. However this it is not only being ignored, but actively and aggressively prevented from happening!  It is a sad fact that based on purchase price parity; Australia ranks a pathetic 88th globally in the number of refugees they accept.

Another sad fact is that a growing number of Australians now support the anti-immigration policies of both major parties for a variety of reasons but I suspect it is a fear of the unknown. Brilliant spin by politicians, more concerned about getting re-elected than creating lasting economic benefits, continues to feed the fear of everyday working Australians that increased intake could cost Australian jobs! The myopic principles of government means that the country spends a staggering $4 billion annually incarcerating men, women and children (at $400,000 per person) in forlorn places like Nauru and the infamous Manus Island.

Surely, surely these funds could be better employed investing in more migrant centers to assist these often-talented refugees to become part of kick starting a spluttering economy. It doesn’t take a genius to know that opening doors to those desperate to create a better life will create jobs, improve services in local communities and increase living standards for all. Lest one forget that some of Australia’s greatest job and wealth creators, such as Frank Lowy, Harry Triguboff, David Teoh, Kerr Neilson, Jack Cowin and many more just happened to have arrived on those shores as penniless migrants. How many more of the caliber of those mentioned above are being needlessly turned away by a paranoid government eager to appease the fearful population?

I suspect the recent, appalling events in Paris will only add to this paranoia and those poor flotsam who, with no other way to turn, crowd onto leaky boats, only to be towed even further out to sea, leaving them to an uncertain fate.

Paul v Walters is a Bali based, best selling novelist who, when not writing books and cocooned in sloth and procrastination often scribbles for several international travel journals and vox pop magazines.

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