The effect of Australian immigration on the economy, infrastructure and the environment has proved to be a contentious issue in the run-up to the 2009-10 Budget.

The Australian Conservative Fund (ACF) has expressed a concern over current levels of immigration, and has called for next year’s quota to be slashed due to the potential threat posed to the environment by migration from overseas.

According to the ACF, Australia’s migration quota requires a “substantial reduction”, as, if current trends were to continue, the population would triple by the end of the century, placing great strain on the country’s resources, economy and environment.

However, economic analysts remain firmly behind Australian immigration, citing the country’s current workforce crisis as a primary reason for aggressively recruiting labour from overseas.

Economist Steven Roberts told reporters: “There's going to be an extraordinary pool of experienced people looking for work and a real chance for Australia to fill gaps in sectors like health and engineering, which are crying out for them.”

“For economists, the case for skilled migration is cast iron, but as unemployment creeps higher, policy makers will surely come under pressure to cut back, and that would be a shame,” he added.

Immigration minister Chris Evans has promised that the government will reassess the migration quota inline with economic predictions, whilst also taking public opinion into consideration.

“There's no doubt in my view that there’s a strong link between the economic cycle and people's attitude towards immigration,” Evans said.