Discussion+Migration+and+population

http://www.unhcr.org.au/basicdef.shtml

In current Australian politics, there is an election debate about immigration and population.

"How many people should we allow in to Australia?"

First let's find out how much you know about Australia's population. Population Quiz

Now let's get some facts: What is the population of Australia? 22,398,936 Here are some interesting numbers about Australia's population and migration.
 * one birth every 1 minute and 47 seconds,
 * one death every 3 minutes and 44 seconds,
 * a net gain of one **international migration** every 1 minute and 54 seconds, leading to
 * an overall total population increase of one person every 1 minute and 13 seconds.

History: migration cloze ex

Australian Politics We now have a new Prime Minister named Julia Gillard. Go here to learn more:Julia Gillard the new PM On the 21st of August, Australians will vote for who they want to be the next governement: Labor, Liberal, Democrats, Greens...? Both the Australian Labor Party (Julia Gillard) and the opposition Liberal Party (run by Tony Abbott) are talking about reducing the number of migrants in Australia. ABC News. Federal Election 2010 Immigration debate Liberal says they want to reduce migration but not "skilled workers". This means the drop in migration numbers will come from "humanitarian" migration (ie: refugees). There is a lot of media attention about the asylum seekers coming to Australia on boats. Go here to see the story. BTN: Asylum Seekers What do migrants think about all this focus on asylum seekers and overpopulation? ABC news on multicultural society What is your opinion? Should we reduce migration numbers in Australia? Discuss.

Why we need more immigrants. Article and pod link pod cast ( 1 hour: maybe allocate times of 5 mins to the class to summarise and analyse) by Philippe Legrain

The Rudd Government figures showed Australia's population was set to reach 36 million by 2050. Some people say this is too high, some people say this is good, maybe we need even more. What do you think? Let's look at some opinions:

**'Against' migration opinion:**

 Keep Australia for (white) Australians!

Keep jobs for Australians!Migrants take jobs from white Australians.

We don't want all these other nationalities and languages and religions. They don't share our Australian values.

Migrants stick together and don't mix with other Australians. In some places all the shop windows are written in their language! They can't even speak English.

Houses are becoming too expensive because migrants are coming and buying all the houses.Some are even paying with cash.

We will accept some clever "skilled" people to live in Australia but we like them to come from English speaking countries.

Why should we accept refugees? Why are we responsible for their bad governments?

Migrants are lazy and just go on the dole when they come.

We don't have enough water or other resources in Australia to sustain a growing population.

Migration makes Australia less safe. Anyone can come in from anywhere. What if they are terrorists?

Migration is needed. It is essential to the economy of Australia. If we did not have migration, we would not have enough people to do all the jobs.
 * 'For' migration opinion:**

We are a young country living on an old land. White people came and took over the land in Australia. We have no right to stop others coming.

It is the right thing to do: to offer others a better life and a better standard of living. We are the lucky ones, why not share our luck with others?

Our country is a rich country because of our natural resources. We ship a lot of coal, steel and other natural resources to China and other countries. Where can the mines find workers? Australia needs migrants that are willing to work in the mining industry. If we cannot find workers, we will have to close the mines.

We are an aging population, we need young people to work and pay taxes so that the older, retired people can be supported. We also need workers willing to look after our elderly in aged care.

Migration helps us to get richer through trade with other countries. People who come here make connections with people back "home" or, if they go home, they have made connections and knowledge of Australia.

We are a country who believes in diversity and justice.How far does our sense of justice go beyond our borders?

Migration makes our culture richer: new foods, new languages, new ideas, new ways to see things.

Migrants are really hard working. They work hard to make a good life for themselves.

Migration and asylum for refugees can save lives. Many migrants have died trying to come to Australia in the waters between Australia and Indonesia.

We can be safer. If migration is illegal, people break the law to come. If you don't care about illegal immigration, you should care about law and order and reducing crime.