Has immigration really made Australia more prosperous?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Mark Cully, former chief economist for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, about his new, revealing and monumental history Waves of Plenty: Immigration and the Making of Australia. One of the only books to ever chart Australia’s full immigration story, from the early 19th century to the present, and full of the crucial historical insights that only an economist and a fresh pair of eyes can provide.

Want to learn more about immigration in Australia? Listen to these episodes of Afternoon Light:

Henry Ergas: What has multiculturalism done to Australia?

Peter Kurti on maintaining national unity amidst Australia’s growing pluralism: “Multiculturalism works when it’s Civic Anchored”

Alistair Thomson on the Ten Pound Poms: “Implicitly assumed they weren’t migrants”

Francesco Ricatti on Italian Migration | “Your own identity… is evolving”

Mark Cully was chief economist for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Department of Industry, as well as chair of the OECD’s Working Party on Migration. As head of macroeconomic policy in the Treasury, he led the design of the JobKeeper program during the pandemic. He is an expert panel member of the Fair Work Commission and a visiting fellow at ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy.