Why Does Australia Import Low-Skilled Migrants? By James Reed

I've been digging into why Australia keeps opening its doors to waves of so-called "skilled" migrants who, it turns out, aren't so skilled after all—at least not by any measure that justifies their rock-bottom wages. The numbers tell a story that's hard to ignore: this isn't about filling gaps in the labour market with top-tier talent. It's about driving down wages for everyone and, whether intentional or not, paving the way for a massive demographic overhaul— "The Great Replacement."

Take the median full-time Australian worker. Last year, they were pulling in $90,416—decent money for a decent job, right? Now compare that to the government's Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold, or TSMIT, which sets the minimum wage for these "skilled" visa holders at just $73,150 for 2024-25. That's a gap of over $17,000 below what the typical Aussie earns, and it's not even close to the $106,704 you'd hit at the 75th percentile of wages—where real skilled talent should be sitting. Yet here we are, letting in migrants under the guise of "skills' who are paid less than the average Joe flipping burgers or stacking shelves. How does that add up?

It doesn't—unless the goal isn't skill but suppression. Look at the data: over the nine quarters to Q3 2024, net overseas migration hit 1.06 million people. That's more than double the 470,000 the government predicted back in 2022. And what are these migrants doing? Not solving high-skill shortages—employers still can't find enough qualified engineers or doctors. Instead, these arrivals are flooding low-wage sectors like hospitality, retail, and health support, where labour productivity is notoriously dismal. The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) even pointed out that recent "skilled" migrants are chronically underpaid, dragging down national productivity because they're not being used in roles that match their supposed qualifications. If they're skilled, why are they earning peanuts?

Here's the kicker: keeping wages low isn't a bug, it's a feature. When you flood the market with workers willing—or forced—to take less than the median wage, you don't just undercut the migrants; you kneecap local workers too. Employers don't have to raise pay or invest in training Aussies when they can tap an endless stream of cheap labour from overseas. It's a race to the bottom, and the numbers back it up. Labour productivity's been flatlining, and wages aren't budging either—why would they, when the supply of workers keeps ballooning? CEDA's own analysis shows migrant labour isn't being used efficiently, and yet the government keeps the tap wide open. This isn't about economic growth; it's about keeping the working class—local and migrant alike—on a leash.

But there's a bigger game at play here, and it's where "The Great Replacement" comes in. Australia's population is set to jump by 1.8 million in the next five years—360,000 a year, mostly from overseas. That's like adding a new Canberra annually, and it's not stopping there. The cities—Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane—are soaking up most of these newcomers, shifting the cultural and ethnic makeup faster than anyone can keep track. It's a conspiracy with a handshake and a secret memo: the Australia of old, with its Anglo roots and laid-back identity, is being diluted by sheer numbers. The housing crisis—177,700 homes built last year against a 552,000 population spike—means locals are getting squeezed out, while migrants pile into rentals or high-rises that don't even pretend to match the old Aussie dream of a quarter-acre block.

Think about it: if you're an Aussie kid trying to buy a house or land a decent job, you're competing with a tidal wave of arrivals who'll work for less and live six to a room if they have to. The system's rigged to keep wages stagnant and property prices insane, all while the population churns into something unrecognizable. Sure, some argue it's just economics—businesses need labour, universities need fees from Chinese students (who make up 40 percent of the international cohort). But when you see "skilled" migrants paid below the median, undercutting locals, and a government that won't cap the inflow, it starts looking like a plan to replace one workforce—and one culture—with another.

I'd say it's deliberate. Set the wage floor low—$73,150 isn't skilled, it's entry-level—and you guarantee a flood of workers who'll keep the economy humming without ever threatening the corporate bottom line. Meanwhile, the sheer volume of arrivals reshapes the nation, one low-paid visa at a time. Productivity's tanking, housing's a mess, and the average Aussie is left wondering why their paycheques stuck while the country they knew keeps slipping away. That's not a skills program—that's a wage-slashing, identity-shifting machine.

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2025/03/why-is-australia-importing-low-wage-skilled-migrants/