Give The People A Say On Immigration

Senator Hanson’s opinion piece published in the Australian 7/08/2019

Australia’s population increased by 3.5 million people in the decade 2006 to 2016. Around 60% of that population increase came from immigration.

There is no doubt that legal immigration is the cause of Australia’s exceptional population growth.

If we continue to allow annual immigration targets to determine the size of our population, then the Australian Bureau of Statistics expects that Australia’s population increase will double from 25 million to 50 million in just 30 years. Melbourne and Sydney will become megacities of over ten million people.

Governments, both Liberal and Labor, argue immigration is good for the economy, but economist Judith Sloan says immigration benefits special interest groups. She says the economics of immigration are very clear. In the short term immigration reduces per capita income and in the long term per capita income gains are very modest, but these calculations ignore the congestion costs, house prices and the loss of amenity.

Our immigration policy is like a rider-less horse. It is dangerous. What we need is a rider, a population policy to safely guide the immigration horse.

Each year the government of the day sets an immigration target but there is no plan to take into account the cumulative long term consequences of those year on year decisions. In fact it’s the States and Territories that are left to manage the ever increasing population.

If high levels of legal immigration are such a good idea why is Australia the only country in the OECD, with a population greater than ten million, increasing its population at the rate of over 1.7% a year?

In 2011 the percentage of overseas born was just over 25% but today it is over 28%. Are the major political party’s intent on finding out the point at which social cohesion breaks down?

No other comparable country has such a high proportion of overseas born. We have double the percentage of overseas born when we compare ourselves to the United States, the United Kingdom or New Zealand.

It is time to put the interests of citizens first and to stop pandering to special interest groups, including business, higher education and property developers who benefit from excessive immigration.

The Lowy Institute Survey reported a ‘sharp spike in anti-immigration sentiment’ in 2018, causing their annual sentiment measure to change from positive to negative.

The 2017 Scanlon Survey reported 37% of respondents see the current immigration intake as too high, but when respondent remained anonymous 74% said that Australia did not need any more people.

The government and the opposition must be aware of these findings but they have not changed their positions and jointly they want a bigger and bigger population for Australia.

Perhaps the major parties will be persuaded of the electorates view if a plebiscite on immigration is held at the next general election, because that is what is proposed in the Plebiscite (Migration Level) 2018 Bill.

My Bill proposes to ask voters “Do you think the immigration rate is too high?”

My view is that an overwhelming majority of Australians will say that the immigration rate is too high, when they are told 62% of the population increase in the decade to 2016 was the result of immigration.

Political parties must be stupid to deny there is a problem with permanent migration, because families do notice demountable classrooms at the school, crowded train platforms, buses that don’t stop because they are already full, ever increasing travelling times between familiar destinations and long wait times to see specialist doctors etc.

Unlike most of the political class I talk with people who are doing their best to get by and they tell me that politicians are out of step with them on the issue of migration.

One Nation believes that our immigration should be reduced to 70,000 a year or whatever number is necessary to maintain the current population size and a sustainable population profile.

Australia is a dry continent and our vast land fragile. We need to consider the carrying capacity of the country.

At the end of World War II Australia’s population was over seven million people and 90% of those people were born in Australia. After the horror of the war in Europe many people wanted to leave and start a new life in Australia.

I acknowledge the hard work and the contribution made by so many overseas born Australians and their families, but that does not mean that we should continue to have the highest levels of legal migration in the world.