Policy in the Pub: Migrant intake into Australia

Synopsis 

The Australian Government requested the Productivity Commission to conduct an inquiry into the impacts of immigration on Australia and the way immigrants are selected. The terms of reference for the inquiry asked the Commission to examine:

·        the costs and benefits of temporary and permanent immigration
·        options for determining the intake of migrants with a greater focus on charges
·        the interaction between temporary and permanent immigration 

The terms of reference also requested that the Commission consider the impacts on the income, wealth and living standards of Australian citizens as well as on the budgets and balance sheets of Australian governments. In looking at options for the selection of migrants, the Commission was asked to consider a range of relevant factors including Australia’s humanitarian commitments and other international responsibilities and obligations to foreign residents.

About the speaker
 
Paul Lindwall was appointed a full-time Commissioner with the Productivity Commission in November 2014. Paul has been the presiding Commissioner on the Migrant Intake into Australia, the final report on which was provided to the Government in early April 2016. The Government has 25 sitting days to table the report. The draft report was published last November. Paul will discuss  the inquiry. In addition to the Migrant Intake Inquiry, Paul has also worked on the Commission's Caring for Older Australians Inquiry, Public Infrastructure Inquiry as well as a number of research papers including Barriers to Efficient Gas Markets and International Education Services.

Paul has served as a senior official with the Australian Treasury, the Department of Finance and the Productivity Commission with a focus on macroeconomic policy, financial markets, industry policy, national security and social policy. He has also worked as a senior economic adviser to then-Treasurer Peter Costello and then-Leader of the Opposition Malcolm Turnbull.

He has represented Australia at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and as a diplomatic representative to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg. Paul also later worked as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary-General and the Public Governance Directorate of the OECD.

Paul has degrees in economics from the Australian National University (ANU) as well as a diploma in Ancient History and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.