Media Releases
Fears of Asian Century Skills Shortages Unfounded
Policy proposals worth billions of dollars to equip Australia for the Asian Century would be a waste of taxpayers’ dollars, according to a new report from The Centre for Independent Studies.
Costly policies, such as increasing the number of Australian university students going on exchange in Asia, and boosting the number of students studying Asian languages in Australian schools, make no sense, says Benjamin Herscovitch, Policy Analyst and author of the report Australia and the Asian Ascendancy: Why Upskilling is Not Necessary to Reap the Rewards.
‘Many commentators are claiming that business will suffer because Australians lack the skills needed to sell goods and services to Asian consumers,’ says Herscovitch.
This new report asks, ‘Where is the evidence that the Australian workforce has low levels of Asia-relevant capabilities?’
‘As many as 90 per cent of Australian businesses in Asia say their operations in the region are living up to expectations or exceeding expectations. This is hardly the result we would expect if Australia was actually suffering a severe Asia-relevant capabilities shortfall.’
‘There is a steady and growing stream of skilled Asian migrants entering Australia, with Asian countries accounting for 6 out of the top 8 source countries for skilled visas.’
‘Australia has a healthy supply of professionals who have sophisticated Asia-relevant capabilities, both from our migration program and our large Asian student population.’
‘Given that we have 2.2 million Asian languages speakers in Australia, spending billions to teach students Asian languages, as has been proposed by both the Labor government and the Coalition, would be financially irresponsible.’
‘The world’s centre of economic gravity is steadily moving towards Asia and it is propelling Australia towards increased prosperity. Our exports to Asia are booming, our top trading partners are in Asia, and Australian businesses are well-placed to reap the rewards of the Asian Century.’
‘All the evidence points to the conclusion that a national project to upskill the Australian population-at-large with Asia-relevant capabilities is unjustified.’
Benjamin Herscovitch is a Policy Analyst at The Centre for Independent Studies. He is available for comment.
The CIS Issue Analysis, Australia and the Asian Ascendancy: Why Upskilling is Not Necessary to Reap the Rewards, released on 19 February, is available at the CIS website.
Benjamin Herscovitch discusses the findings of the report in this YouTube video.
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