On Wednesday, federal opposition leader, Bill Shorten, went on a tirade labeling those arguing for a sensible and sustainable immigration intake “political extremists” and effectively playing the race card to shut-down debate. From The Guardian:
Shorten said that “political extremists” are telling Australians “that cutting migration will clear-up traffic and make housing cheaper”.
“It will make our internet faster, our schools better and our weather sunnier,” he said. “And citizens who feel like they’re not getting a fair go are told to blame minorities, to demonise difference.”
The former prime minister Tony Abbott has called for the Coalition to explicitly link migration to housing affordability, as the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, did while debating housing affordability on Wednesday evening in the Senate.
Shorten said that migrant attendees and award recipients are “an irreplaceable part of who we are … the counter-argument to that dishonesty [and] living proof of the benefits of migration”.
What hope is there for a rational debate on immigration and population policy when our alternative Prime Minister uses false binaries like this?
To him, it is somehow “extreme” to suggest that Australia should moderate its immigration intake back to something akin to historical norms:
Does Bill Shorten consider progressive and multicultural Canadians “politically extreme”? After all, Canada has run far lower rates of immigration than Australia over the past decade:
In fact, had Australia simply decreased its immigration intake to match the rate of Canada over the past ten years, there would be 1.3 million fewer people in Australia – equivalent to three Canberras!
Meanwhile, Bill Shorten seems completely oblivious to the situation on the ground in Australia’s two biggest cities. Housing affordability is woeful. Infrastructure is under immense strain. Traffic congestion is a constant problem and public transport is packed to the brim. Blind Freddy – but clearly not Bill Shorten – can see that packing Sydney and Melbourne with 80,000 to 100,000 extra people each year – primarily via mass immigration – is a fundamental cause of these problems.
Instead of labeling those calling for sensible levels of immigration “political extremists”, Labor and the other major parties need to openly and maturely discuss the whole immigration and population growth issue.
So far, there has been no proper debate within the community about the appropriate level of immigration and no political mandate for pursuing a “Big Australia”. And as long as Australians’ concerns are ignored, extremist elements like Pauline Hanson’s One Nation will continue to grow. We have seen this already with Brexit as well as with the rise of Donald Trump.
Population policy is far too important an issue to be segregated into pro-and anti-immigration corners based upon views about race and cultural supremacy.
Australia desperately needs a frank and honest national conversation about population policy, which focuses on whether or not large-scale immigration is benefiting the living standards of the incumbent population. Not the current ‘smoke and mirrors’ approach employed by the likes of Bill Shorten that deliberately conflates lowering immigration with ‘racism’ and ‘xenophobia’.
