MARCH FOR AUSTRALIA 31 August 2025: when people believe what neo-Nazis & white supremacists loudly chant and fail to fact check before they join a march

"On 18 August, 2GB radio host Ben Fordham said that 1,544 migrants, or the equivalent of five fully-loaded Boeing 787 Dreamliners, were arriving in Australia "day after day, week after week".

Fordham went on to suggest this figure is why the 'March for Australia' protests were organised....

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said these figures are not an accurate reflection of actual migration figures." [SBS News FactCheckers, 1 Sept 2025]

 

Marchers Attacking and damaging indigenous sovereign camp. Unprovoked. Protesters begging them to stop. pic.twitter.com/u17dfKciXU

— 🕸️Messywebz🔞 (@Messywebz) September 1, 2025

Because the barely concealed 'othering' of large parts of the Australian population should never be tolerated and because the combination of ignorance, racism and hate-filled violence which also occurred during the March for Australia event was a disgrace, here is a brief outline of Australia's genuine migration statistics.

 

Note: click on tables & graphs to enlarge for easier reading

 

Australian Bureau of Statistics, National, state and territory population, as of December 2024:

Estimated Resident Population (ERP).

• Australia’s population was 27,400,013 people at 31 December 2024.

• The quarterly growth was 91,133 people (0.3%).

• The annual growth was 445,900 people (1.7%).

• Annual natural increase was 105,200 and net overseas migration was 340,800.

Components of annual population change(a) Dec 04 to Dec 24

Components of annual population change by states and territories in 2024

AIFS, Births in Australia, December 2024:

The total fertility rate for Australia in 2023 was 1.50, which is the lowest ever recorded. The previous lowest rate was 1.59 recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020....

Since 1976, the total national fertility rate has been below the replacement level, which is about 2.1 births per woman....

Replacement level is the level at which a population is replaced from one generation to the next without immigration....

Over the last decade it [the fertility rate] has been below replacement level for all states and territories.

[SEE: https://aifs.gov.au/research/facts-and-figures/births-australia-2024]

These figures indicate that Australia is no longer able to sustain a stable population demographic based on live births alone. The beginning of the marked fall in population replacement levels can be pinpointed to 1961 with the introduction of the contraceptive pill.

Total fertility rate in Australia, 1921-2023

[SEE: https://aifs.gov.au/research/facts-and-figures/births-australia-2024]

The figures and graphs also tell us that permanent migration from overseas into the Commonwealth of Australia and its territories has not increased dramatically.

In the year ending 31 December 2024, net overseas migration:

• was 340,800 people

• decreased by 189,900 (35.8%) people since the previous year.

[SEE:

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-population/latest-release

Basically that is a rough average of est. 934 individuals per day arriving in Australia as permanent residents in 2024. Given Australia loses roughly est. 510 individuals per day due to death, then permanent migration figures are hardly the avalanche pushing Australia's population to the unsustainable level that neo-Nazis, white supremacists, far-right lobby groups and the Murdoch media say is occurring in this country. [SEE: https://www.actuaries.asn.au/research-analysis/mortality-in-first-eight-months-of-2024-2-higher-than-predicted]

Looking at state and territory population change below for the year 2024—which is comprised of natural increase, net overseas migration (overseas arrivals minus overseas departures), and net interstate migration (interstate arrivals minus interstate departures) - it clearly shows that population change is not evenly distributed between the states and territories. That metropolitan areas in some states, as well as having markedly mobile resident populations may also have higher levels of both post WWII and post-pandemic migrants.

Net overseas migration by state and territory—annual

Natural increase by state and territory – annual

Perhaps uneven population distribution is one factor which appears to make a sub-section of Australian society more susceptible to the influence of those bad actors on the political stage who are erroneously insisting that out-of-control "mass migration" is "overwhelming the country". The susceptible may come to falsely believe that all migrant numbers are exactly replicated in every corner of Australia.

Australia has been in less than zero population growth from natural increase for over 40 years and continues to supplement its short & long term production & workforce needs through overseas migration

Births, Australia: Statistics about births and fertility rates for Australia, states and territories, and sub-state regions, Reference period 2022, Australian Bureau of Statistics, statistical series.

Click on table to enlarge

Total fertility rate is the number of registered births per woman.

Crude birth rate is the number of births per 1,000 estimated resident population.

Net reproduction rate is the average number of daughters surviving to reproductive age per woman.

Sex ratio is the number of male births per 100 female births.

All statistics are based on year of registration unless otherwise specified.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), media release, 18 October 20232:

Australian women are having fewer children, and having them later in life according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Emily Walter, ABS head of demography said; “Today’s data continues a trend we’ve seen in births over the last 40 years, with the average age of both mothers and fathers steadily increasing since the mid 1970s.

“In 1975, less than 20 per cent of births were to mothers who were between 30 and 39 years old, but now nearly 60 per cent of births are to mothers in this age group.”

Australian women are also having fewer children. The total fertility rate has remained lower than the replacement rate (considered to be 2.1 babies per woman to replace her and her partner, in the absence of overseas migration) since 1976.

In 2022, this was 1.63 births per woman, which was lower than the 2021 rate of 1.70 births per woman, but higher than the 1.59 births per woman recorded in 2020.

“Although total fertility remains low, the fertility rate for women in their late 30s and early 40s has significantly increased.

“From 1991 to 2022, the fertility rate of mothers aged 35-39 years has almost doubled from 36.0 to 69.3 births per 1,000 women, and for mothers aged 40-44 years, it has nearly tripled from 5.5 to 15.8 births per 1,000 women.

In contrast, the fertility rate of teenage mothers has reached an all-time low of 6.8 births per 1,000 women, from 22.1 births per 1,000 women in 1991.” Ms Walter said.

The falling fertility rates of women aged under 30 years and the rising fertility rates of women in their thirties and early forties, are consistent with women having their first and subsequent births later in life.

This shift towards older parenthood largely follows from young people tending to reach the milestones which usually precede parenthood (i.e. leaving the parental home, gaining economic independence, and marrying or forming long-term de facto relationships) later than was seen in previous decades.

In 2022:

• Australia registered a total of 300,684 births, a decrease of over 9,000 from 2021 but higher than 2020 numbers.

• Women aged 30-34 years had the highest fertility rate (114.9 births per 1,000 women or about 1 birth for every 9 women), followed by women aged 25-29 years (83.0 births per 1,000 women).

• Of women aged 15-49 years, women in the 45-49 years cohort continue to have the lowest fertility rate (1.1 babies per 1,000 women).

• The fertility rate of women aged 15-19 years was the lowest on record (6.8 babies per 1,000 women).

• The Northern Territory recorded the highest total fertility rate (1.73 babies per woman), followed by New South Wales and Queensland with 1.71 babies per woman.

• The Australian Capital Territory had the lowest total fertility rate (1.41 babies per woman).

When one looks at the seven local government areas which make up the NSW Northern Rivers region, in 2022:

Ballina – 439 registered births, total fertility rate 1.83

Byron – 364 registered births, total fertility rate 1.42

Clarence Valley – 575 registered births, total fertility rate 1.42

Kyogle – 95 registered births, total fertility rate 2.40

Lismore – 466 registered births, total fertility rate 1.84

Richmond Valley – 262 registered births, total fertility rate 2.27

Tweed – 1,060 registered births, total fertility rate 2.00.

[Table 3.1 Births, Summary Local Government Area]

It would appear that despite high rainfall & rain dumps, east coast low storms and record floods, in 2022 the stork still managed to deliver a good many bundles across this region.