Over many years, opinion poll after opinion poll has shown that Australians do not support high levels of immigration.
This fact was explicitly acknowledged by immigration influencer Abul Rizvi, who noted before the 2022 federal election that neither side would propose lifting immigration because they would be decimated at the ballot box.
“If the prime minister were to come out and say, ‘I’m going to increase my migration program to 190,000 per annum as assumed in my budget papers’, he’s gone, 100%. He’ll never say it – and neither will the opposition”, Rizvi said in May 2022.
Now that Peter Dutton has proposed moderate cuts to Australia’s migration intake, in line with Australians’ wishes, and the bipartisan support for extreme immigration is frayed, Abul Rizvi is now warning of civil unrest:
“The danger with an election fought on immigration levels, as many past Australian politicians on both sides have recognised, is that it could degenerate into Trump-style name calling and civil unrest, including at polling centres”, Rizvi told the National Press Club.
Does Abul Rizvi believe in democracy? Does he really have such a low opinion of Australians, who have for years been ignored on immigration? Does he honestly believe that we would break out in civil unrest over immigration because the issue is finally being debated?
This is not the first time that Rizvi has used a racism slur to attack those opposed to high levels of immigration. He has labelled me racist several times, alongside others:
Rizvi markets himself as Australia’s greatest expert on immigration and frequently derides others for lacking knowledge. Yet, in July 2020, Rizvi projected that Australia’s net overseas migration had no chance of surpassing 200,000 a year this decade:
With 433.000 net overseas migrants landing in 2022 and 547,000 arriving in 2023, that forecast has aged like milk, hasn’t it?
The irony is that if Rizvi’s migration projection had come true, we wouldn’t even be discussing the topic now.
Let’s get real here. If you stop the debate on immigration numbers, you will eventually create a Trumpian-style backlash.
Australian politicians’ continual ignoring of voter wishes on immigration is the danger, not allowing democracy to work as intended.
