Dick Smith to advise Hanson on immigration

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By Leith van Onselen

Things just got real with Dick Smith backing Pauline Hanson’s firm stance on immigration and offering to advise One Nation on immigration policy. From The Australian:

The buy-Australia campaigner, who will meet Ms Hanson before Christmas to discuss her policy, predicts she will enjoy a Trump-like wave of support in traditionally conservative areas.

Mr Smith, told The Daily Telegraph he decided to help Ms Hanson after friends on both sides of the political spectrum had embraced her party. He said he too supported many of her policies…

“I agree with her views on immigration numbers, that is about 70,000 a year, not 200,000. But I do not agree with her views on Muslim immigration,” he said…

He said he had confronted her about claims she was a racist. “I asked her, does she think she’s superior to other races? She said no,” he said.

For those of you that may not be familiar with Dick Smith’s work on this issue, I advise you to revisit his speech from August 2014 to the National Press Club whereby, among other things, Smith argued that Australia’s rampant immigration program is eroding Australia’s standard of living by diluting Australia’s resources base, adding to congestion pressures, and reducing housing affordability. Smith also argued that endless population growth and immigration only benefits the capitalists – which get to enjoy an endless growth in their customer base – but leaves individual Australian’s living standards worse-off. A summary and video of Smith’s speech can be viewed here.

As I noted in my July review, One Nation’s immigration policy is actually very good except for one exception: it focuses too much on race, colour or creed, rather than treating immigration policy as a numbers game. To be successful, One Nation should stick to highlighting the fact that Australia’s overall immigration intake is far too high and has overwhelmed the capacity of the economy and infrastructure to absorb them, eroding individuals’ living standards in the process.

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Population policy is far too important an issue to be divided into pro- and anti-immigration corners based upon views about race and cultural supremacy. Australia is already a successful multicultural country. Instead, the whole population issue needs to be debated rationally and based upon a numbers game of what level of immigration is most likely to benefit the living standards of the existing population.

Hopefully with Dick Smith’s guidance, One Nation will drop the divisive elements of its immigration policy.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.