Former prime minister John Howard says immigration has been one of Australia’s great success stories and that the best way for politicians to deal with the rise of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is to not pay her too much attention.
asserted
politicians → say → attention
In a call for calm after months of increasing hostility over Australia’s immigration intake, driven by One Nation’s surge to a historic high, Howard said everybody, irrespective of their ethnic background, should feel they are a part of Australia.
asserted
they → increase → Australia
“We wanted migrants who would embrace this country.
asserted
who → want → country
We didn’t require of them that they forget the country of their birth.
asserted
they → require → birth
Nobody wants you to do that,” he said.
asserted
he → want → that
“If your parents were born in Italy, or if they were born in Lebanon, if they were born in China, why should you ask of them that they give up affection for the country of their ancestry?
asserted
they → bear → ancestry
We did require of them that they become fully part of the Australian community.”
asserted
they → require → community
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Thursday announced a series of measures aimed at curbing temporary migration, including limits on partner visas for students, and a backpacker ballot.
asserted
Burke → announce → students
The measures have been broadly accepted by the university sector and they have drawn condemnation from farmers alarmed about workforce shortages to pick crops, highlighting the challenges of making even small changes to the immigration intake without a backlash from a range of lobby groups.
asserted
they → accept → groups
Burke said Australia was facing a much broader challenge over the structure of its immigration program, which has become reliant on temporary migration and is at risk of creating a guest worker economy.
asserted
which → say → economy
“This is one of the things I’m very worried about,” Burke said in an interview.
asserted
Burke → ’m → interview
“I don’t have an immediate fix to it.”
asserted
I → have → it
The temporary migrant workforce now accounts for more than 16 per cent of the working-age population, filling offices, farms and restaurants across the country without the rights of permanent residents or citizens.
asserted
workforce → account → residents
The government does not have the legislative tools to address the demand-driven system without support from the Coalition.
asserted
government → have → Coalition
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has echoed Hanson’s claims that Australia has a problem with “mass migration” and he rejected Labor’s attempts to legislate new powers to tackle the demand-driven system without a “serious cut to the numbers and a serious improvement in the standards”.
uncertain
he → echo → standards
Howard’s 2001 slogan, “We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come”, came to define decades of refugee politics.
asserted
they → decide → politics
But his government also turbocharged the demand-driven temporary migration system by handing control over temporary migration to business, allowing employers and universities to sponsor staff and students with minimal government oversight.
asserted
employers → turbocharge → oversight
The policies under the old 457 visa were designed to fill labour shortages, reduce taxpayer funding for universities and drive economic growth.
asserted
policies → design → growth
They also created the foundation for the current explosion in temporary migration.
asserted
They → create → migration
More than 1 million temporary migrant visas were issued last year, based on business and education demand, not government regulation.
asserted
visas → issue → demand
“It’s important to have a migration program that caters for reasonable expectations of a number of things, including shortages of skilled migrants,” Howard said.
asserted
Howard → ’ → migrants
Australia’s second longest serving prime minister would not comment on the long-term implications of his government’s temporary migration policies.
asserted
minister → serve → policies
“The Labor Party is obviously the government now, and there’s always more pressure for the government party, but it’s a community issue and I want Australia to be a happy family.”
asserted
Australia → ’ → party
One Nation is polling well above the Coalition and just one percentage point lower than Labor on first preference votes, according to the latest Resolve Political Monitor.
uncertain
Nation → poll → Monitor
Howard was prime minister when Hanson was first pre-selected as a Liberal candidate in 1996, before she was disendorsed after offensive comments against Indigenous Australians.
asserted
she → pre → Australians
The then 41-year-old entered parliament as an independent, beginning an almost three-decade career in politics based largely on anti-immigration policies that have now resulted in her party eclipsing the Coalition as the dominant challenger to the Labor government.
asserted
party → enter → government
“What I said was that we shouldn’t pay too much attention to her and I think that was a sensible approach then,” said Howard.
asserted
Howard → say → her
Howard said Australia had become more divided.
asserted
Australia → say → ?
“It only, in my view, started to go off the rails when we started talking in tribes,” he said.
asserted
he → start → tribes
“What I know is that the policy we followed for decades worked.
asserted
we → know → decades
It’s been one of the great Australian achievements that we’ve taken people from all around the world.
asserted
we → take → world
The Aporia
