Scummo deploys new immigration bait-and-switch

By Leith van Onselen

MB has previously lambasted the immigration ‘bait-and-switch’ deployed by former Prime Minister John Howard whereby he slammed the door shut on the relatively small number of refugees arriving into Australia by boat all the while stealthily shoving open the door to economic migrants arriving here by plane.

The ultimate result was a massive lift in Australia’s net migration intake, which surged from the mid-2000s and pushed population growth to roughly twice long-run norms. Moreover, the official projections are for this high intake to persist for the next half century (see next chart).