Australia’s rising immigrant intake will be needed to replace retiring Baby Boomers in the workforce and mop up debt left in the wake of Federal Government stimulus packages, KMPG partner Bernard Salt says.

Mr Salt, a leading consultant on demographic trends, made the observations at investment conferences held in Sydney and Melbourne last week.

He says the forecast annual intake of 180,000 in the years to 2056 – up from 100,000 in the last half of the 20^th century ­– will be needed to help shore up the tax base and consumption base in areas such as retail sales and household formation, as well as to help maintain competition for residential property.

“Where migration is tailored to skilled, young adults, they arrive in their 20s, they go into the workforce, they don’t get sick, they don’t want an age pension and they pay tax for 40 years,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “It’s a good deal.”