Australia’s left-wing Labor government has admitted that mass immigration has created social problems while not benefiting Australians, after bringing in a record number of foreigners since the last election. Federal Assistant Minister for Immigration Matt Thistlethwaite made admission in a speech to the policy forum The Sydney Institute last month where he noted that a recent review of the migration system found that there were “too many – 1.8 million – temporary migrants” in the country. Immigration had also failed to improve productivity or solve so-called skills shortages, and conversely had led to drops in qualified apprentices and trainees in key sectors, Mr Thistletwaite said. “Migration has been unresponsive to Australia’s needs; it has provided marginal economic benefit and has not enhanced labour productivity,” he said. “It has been concentrated on capital cities, creating some social tension and skills shortages have persisted despite steady flows of new arrivals within needed skills and competencies. “The reliance on labour migration to solve our skills gaps led to under investment in vocational education with commensurate falls in apprentices and trainees in key sectors, particularly services, which are vital to our standard of living with an ageing population. “For the last decade it appears that immigration was not benefiting Australians as it had in the past.”