Migration lifts everyone’s prosperity

Long before Federation, immigrants, including Muslims, were helping to shape Australia’s economy and identity. Mainul Haque.

In the late 1990s, during field research in the remote Western Australian town of Wyndham, I met a small tourism operator whose story has stuck with me ever since. I have been reviewing successful regional small tourism initiatives and wanted to highlight examples from First Nations communities.

After a fruitful discussion, I asked the owner of the venue if he had any connections to Malaysia; His accent showed it too. He smiled and said his great-grandfather came from Malaysia to work in the pearl industry and married his great-grandmother, a First Nations woman. She stayed in Australia, raised a family and built a life.

This brief encounter revealed something very important: the first Muslim immigrants were not just visitors to Australian shores; they were bridge builders who built families, industries, and communities that remain part of our common story.

Muslims in Australia’s early economy

Long before Federation, immigrants, including Muslims, were helping to shape Australia’s economy and identity. In Broome, skilled divers from Malaysia, Indonesia and the wider Malay Archipelago were at the center of the pearling industry. These early immigrants brought skills, resilience and entrepreneurship, helping to develop Northern Australia.

Similarly, Afghan cameleers of the 1860s opened transportation routes across the harsh interior, paving the way for trade and communication across the continent. Their labor literally connected Australia’s inland towns to its shores.

Muslim settlers also intermarried with First Nations peoples and Asian immigrants, creating multicultural families long before the term multiculturalism was coined. The mosques in Broken Hill and Marree remain living testaments to their faith, resilience and contribution.

The first Muslims were not strangers; they were nation-builders, like today’s immigrants, who continue to strengthen Australia’s economy and social fabric.

A lesson for today

It is disheartening to hear some politicians and commentators today accuse immigrants of taking jobs, driving up housing prices or straining services. The evidence tells a very different story.

Immigrants are creating jobs, building homes and filling critical skills gaps, especially in healthcare, elder care, construction and technology. People born overseas currently make up around 30% of Australia’s population; This is more than twice the OECD average. Regions with a higher proportion of immigrants were found to have 1.3% higher wages for Australian-born workers; This shows that migration makes everyone’s life easier welfare.

Immigrants also contribute significantly to the country’s wealth. They earned an estimated $284 billion in personal income in 2021-22; this underlines their central role as earner, taxpayer and consumer. Treasury forecasts show immigration will add around $1.6 trillion to GDP by 2050, with GDP per capita rising by around 6%.

Immigrants are not a burden on Australia; they sustain, energize and strengthen it.

The story of the tourism operator at Wyndham symbolizes this reality. His great-grandfather’s contribution to the pearl industry laid the foundations of a family and community that best reflects Australia’s diversity: collaboration, connection and contribution.

Economic and social builders

Immigration has always been part of Australia’s economic lifeblood. Early Muslim settlers contributed through trade and enterprise; Today’s immigrants continue this tradition through innovation, small business formation, and community leadership.

Immigrants are extremely entrepreneurial. They are more likely than Australian-born citizens to start a business, encouraging business start-up and economic regeneration. There was also migration shown Increasing labor force participation by 15.7% and increasing after-tax real wages for low-skilled workers by more than 20%.

Beyond the economy, immigrants also strengthen our social fabric. Immigrant populations are generally younger and better educated, helping to address Australia’s aging workforce and skills shortages. For example, a recent study in the Muslim community found that approximately 46% of working-age Muslims were in full-time employment and 12% were self-employed; this is evidence of strong workforce participation and entrepreneurship (MDPI, 2024).

Immigrants build bridges of understanding and promote unity between different communities through marriage, civic engagement and volunteering.

Diversity is not something difficult to manage, it is a strength to be celebrated.

Why is it important?

From Broome’s pearl divers to outback camel drivers, from the first mosques to modern community centres, the Muslim story is inseparable from Australia’s national story.

Australia’s success depends on its ability to harness the energy, skills and creativity of all its people. Early Muslims lived this principle through labor and trade; today’s immigrants perpetuate this in our hospitals, schools, farms, and small businesses.

They are not here to replace anyone; They are here to build, contribute and belong.

Recognizing the contributions of early Muslims and contemporary immigrants strengthens our sense of national identity and social cohesion. It honors those who have come before and inspires future generations to build an inclusive, self-reliant and compassionate Australia.

The date is not distant; it lives on in our families, workplaces and communities. To ignore this is to underestimate the foundations of our economy and multicultural success.

Immigrants are not a burden. They are entities; past, present and future. Celebrating this truth is not just about acknowledging the past; it is about shaping the type of nation we aspire to be, one that values diversity, justice and shared prosperity.

Mainul Haque OAM is a retired Australian public servant with nearly three decades of experience in government, academia and community leadership.

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