CAAIP in context: an economic-demographic critique

"Gross immigration to Australia in 1988 will total about 160,000 persons or about one per cent of the existing population. This is more than double Australia's 1983 intake of about 70,000 and is a high intake compared with other major Western receiving countries. The CAAIP [Committee to Advise on Australia's Immigration Policies] Report released in May argues for a continuation of such levels of immigration....This paper argues that the arguments evinced are flawed or unable to be tested with data currently available." This policy is discussed in terms of the socioeconomic impact on the native Australian population. This paper was originally presented at the 1988 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (see Population Index, Vol. 54, No. 3, Fall 1988, p. 477).