As coincidences go, a forum of leading economists discussing Australia’s immigration policy on the day Opposition Leader Angus Taylor delivered a speech attacking it, was right up there.

The Melbourne Economic Forum on immigration, which I convened, offered a reasoned, constructive critique of Australia’s immigration program.

But it did not start another front in the culture wars battle that the Liberal Party and One Nation have been waging against the federal government, and anyone who refuses to chant the mantra of “mass immigration”.

Presenters at the forum, held at the Melbourne Institute, were Emeritus Professor Peter McDonald AO, Professor Paul Jensen and Associate Professor Andrew Clarke – all experts in immigration policy and practice.

As convenor, I pointed out that, far from “mass immigration”, Australia’s annual net overseas migration had returned to just above the pre-Covid levels of the previous Coalition government.

It had fallen to negative levels during Covid-era border restrictions and rebounded to make up for these losses in the........

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