Immigration Decision Point

Immigration has built Australia. People from across the globe have come here, made a life for themselves and their families, developed our land and our culture.

It was seldom easy. No matter if you wandered down from Gondwanaland 40,000 years ago, floated here in chains 230 years ago or flew in during the 1950’s.

Life here was never easy….often just a whole lot better than where you came from. But Australia was the land of opportunity. The ethos was simple. Work hard and being prepared to have a laugh meant you’d get a fair go.

That changed when migration was weaponised by politicians in the 1970’s. They saw the electoral potential of waves of migrants supported by grand social welfare programs that would be forever grateful to those who brought them here.

Integration was dropped for ‘multi-culturalism’ where support for our cultural and social mores became politically incorrect.

Now, public support for our culture and western civilisation is deemed racist.

If you think that, there are plenty of non-western nations you can go and live without the oppression of the west….I suggest you try the Middle East, China or parts of Africa first.

Over the last thirty years, high rates of immigration has also masked our economic decline.  A huge increase in immigration over those years has boosted headline GDP numbers…they are the numbers governments use to boast about their economic prowess.

It’s a pretty simple concept. As more people come here, they buy more stuff which makes the economy ‘get bigger’.

But individuals haven’t felt the benefit of that growth. Our living standards are lagging behind.

Put simply, while the economic pie has grown there are many more people eating from it which means less pie for everyone.

The results can be seen almost everywhere. Congestion, housing, utility costs and infrastructure. Services and facilities are all failing to keep pace with demand.  Pay packets haven’t been keeping up with price rises which is why your own budget is stretched every week.

If, as  Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has noted, the role of good economic policy should be to "raise living standards" - not just make the population, and therefore economy, bigger – then we are clearly failing on almost every front.

Coronavirus has meant a steep drop in migration levels. They are now probably close to where they sustainably should be.

The backdoor migration scams attached to student visas  have almost come to a stop. There are no more boats of economic refugees sailing in from Indonesia claiming climate protection or demanding permanent welfare.

It’s taken hundreds of billions of dollars in borrowings to hide the decline in our economy which is only marginally better than hiding it with unnecessary migration. Clearly though, neither is sustainable.

To truly secure our future and our way of life we need a return to a migration program that works in our social, economic and cultural interests instead of the government sanctioned ponzi scheme we’ve had in recent decades.