Opposition to Slash Migration Numbers if Elected

[George Lombard]

See story below. I would expect Gillard to shadow Abbott's moves on immigration and given its status as an entree to MasterChef tonight I expect they'll be striving for effect if they get onto that topic in the leaders debate. A lot of things said during election campaigns are later forgotten, but if they both put numbers on the extent of the reduction that might make it very difficult to unsay. The very sad part about this kind of xenophobic auction is that Australia's prosperity - and survival of the GFC - is tied to maintaining sensible levels of net immigration. Going down the path suggested will make Australia more like New Zealand and Ireland. However if this story is just kite flying - testing the effect of a policy before announcing it - then I think every participant on this and every other forum should be letting Tony Abbott know what they think about it.

 

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

 

Parliament House

RG109

Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: (02) 6277 4022

Fax: (02) 6277 8562

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR WARRINGAH

 

Level 2

17 Sydney Rd

MANLY NSW 2095

Phone: (02) 9977 6411

Fax: (02) 9977 8715

 

Email:tony.abbott.mp@aph.gov.au

 

 

Coalition to cut migrant numbers

 

STEPHANIE PEATLING

 

July 25, 2010

 

The Coalition is preparing to announce dramatic cuts to the migration program as it seeks to outmanoeuvre the government on population and immigration.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is due to make a major announcement on immigration as early as today and is believed to be considering cuts of more than 110,000 places a year - most from the skilled migration program.

''There will be a substantial reduction and that figure has been mentioned several times,'' a senior campaign strategist told The Sun-Herald.

Another insider said the timing of the announcement was still being worked on but it was possible Mr Abbott would nominate the figure as soon as tonight in the debate with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Naming the figure would play to voters' concerns that Labor is not prepared to back its statements on population with action, another strategist said.

''Julia Gillard is dog whistling, making tough noises, but won't name any figures. What we're picking up is: it's tough noises but there's no action to back it up. There's not even a substantial review,'' a senior Liberal Party player said.

Liberal strategists believe a commitment to cut immigration would be controversial but help the Coalition's election chances.

''We're certainly picking up that Labor is absolutely vulnerable on this,'' one strategist said.

But it would anger business, which says it needs immigration in order to keep up productivity.

Polling for both parties shows people in crucial outer metropolitan seats are particularly worried about population and immigration, and see the issues as linked.

Sustainable Population Minister Tony Burke said yesterday people needed to concentrate on the distribution of Australia's population.

''One of the problems years ago when it was first tried was decentralisation meant going to areas where there weren't jobs,'' Mr Burke said.

''That has now changed. The mining boom means that in the regions there are jobs, and broadband being rolled out around the country takes away the tyranny of distance for a whole lot of other industries as well.''

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison would not comment on a specific reduction in numbers but said the size of the immigration program had to be addressed.

''There's only one lever left to pull. That's [immigration] the only thing that will make a difference,'' Mr Morrison said.

Mr Abbott spent yesterday in Perth and Kalgoorlie, where he continued to highlight concerns about asylum seekers and the mining tax.

Despite Labor's strong showing in the opinion polls, party officials are concerned about its support in Queensland and Western Australia.

Mr Abbott announced $50 million for communities to install security cameras to prevent crime.

 

 

 

 

Federal Election | Abbott keen to cut migration

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi George

 

Thanks very much for this news.

 

As you say, a lot of what gets said during an Election campaign turns out not to be real once the winner starts the business of being a Government. In the UK recently, David Cameron (leader of the Conservatives and now the PM) absolutely insisted that he intended to cut immigration from outside of the EU to "tens of thousands a year only."

 

Yeah, right. No sooner had he seized the reins than this dramatic drop that he had promised turned into a reduction of 1,500 for the current F/Y plus a "review." Talk about being "economical with the truth," imho!

 

I was chatting to a friend of mine earlier today. He is about 63 and his grandson is 18. Alan (my mate) said that if he loses his current job, he does not think he would be able to get another one because there are no jobs about. The 18 year old has been to College and has learned a trade at College (I don't know which trade.) He has tried everything locally but he cannot get an apprenticeship or even a job working in a shop. So he has gone to Wales, where his father lives, to see if he can find something there but apparently he is not having any luck in Wales either.

 

However, I can't count the number of times that I've been in shops in Southampton in the last 12 months and I've asked a shop assistant where something is. Invariably, the shop assistant's accent reveals that s/he is from Eastern Europe and his/her English is not up to much. There are millions of them and apparently we can't do anything about it.

 

The Aussies have not got as much to whinge about as they would like to believe. They should come and see what it is like in the UK. They would stop whingeing immediately.

 

I learned recently that the UK does not admit refugees. The people have to set foot on British soil and then claim asylum, I gather. At least 1,000 people do so every week because it is so easy to get to the UK from the Continent. They come overland via various well known routes - they do not arrive by air in vast numbers. But the most decrepit little tub will get across the English channel on a reasonably calm night and it is easy enough to nick the tub from almost anywhere on the north coast of France.

 

It is common knowledge that the gendarmes look the other way because they don't want the asylum seekers to stay in France and the asylum seekers themselves don't want to stay in France because the French will not house them, give them any money, treat their ailments or educate their children.

 

There are loads of small harbours on the north coast of France, all of them crammed full of boats - which are very easy to steal. Otherwise there are lorries, trains and ferries so they can even choose their desired mode of transport, more or less. Chauffeur-driven is fine for the ones who don't like small boats and DIY to get themselves across the Channel.

 

Since his death, I have sometimes wondered why my late Hubby Jim & I didn't do a bit of people smuggling because Jim's boat slept 10 in 5 cabins and everybody knew that he spent as much time in France as he did in the UK, always taking his own boat to France. Nobody would even have questioned Jim because everybody knew about his lifestyle. Eccentric by most people's standards but Jim was very canny about playing the batty old fool when he wanted to, as well. The only reason why he didn't do any people smuggling was because he himself chose not to, I reckon. I'm sure he would have gotten away with it, but Jim didn't like having people on board if he didn't know them. Jim could do the daft, deaf old codger routine like a good 'un when he chose to - the police would have branded him barmy and left him alone, for sure.

 

I suspect that the risk of the boat being impounded might have been the thing that held Jim back - dunno because I never asked him about it. He had no time for the police, though. He used to tell me that, "The only good cop is a dead cop," and he certainly wasn't frightened of them. He despised the police too much to be scared of them but he was worried about Customs and didn't want them on the boat, so that might have held him back.

 

Also, we didn't know much about it - or at any rate, I didn't. Neither of us knew enough about it to have been anything more than very amateur smugglers, I fear! A guy once came and stood alongside the boat in Cherbourg. I was wuzzocking around on deck and Jim was ashore somewhere. The guy told me that he was Russian, an engineer and that he would work his passage plus give us £100 to bring him to the UK. The boat was registered in London, so it said London on the stern in large letters. I was baffled by the man's suggestion and pointed out that Cherbourg ferry port was only 1km away, with several ferries to Portsmouth and Poole every day. A foot passenger could travel for £10 so why did he want to pay us £100? I was literally completely baffled by why anybody should make such a suggestion to us when they could travel with P&O Ferries - or so I thought. I didn't think about stuff like they check your passport at the ferry ports. The Russian man went away and when Jim came back, I asked him what it had been about. He said, "No papers for the UK, I expect," but he wasn't interested beyond answering my question.

 

The British Government is sparing with the truth about how many claim asylum and officially they know nothing about the ones that don't bother and simply stay in the UK unlawfully. When the Government is so keen to air-brush them out of the story and they are equally keen to be air-brushed, there is nowt that the rest of us can do about it.

 

Right. Rant over.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[George Lombard]

Hi Gill,

 

Yes indeedy there is a lot of talk about asylum-seekers here but Julia Gillard as ever cut through all the baloney when she said that people have a right to entertain fears about the entry of foreigners and that we'll move forward as a nation by understanding that fact, rather than being all Victorian and coy about the bleeding obvious. Unfortunately that means we'll now have a population debate (cue fascist environmentalists) and find it very difficult to justify general skilled migration since it's the same xenophobia coupled with unbridled greed which drives certain professions, including the nurses and doctors, in establishing enormous barriers to entry. They'd all do it if you let them.

 

And yes, there are a lot of people floating around by boat between Australia and East Timor, no doubt more to come if Julia bribes East Timor to house her asylum seekers :-(

 

Cheers,

 

George Lombard

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi George

 

Now that I've stopped ranting, very many thanks for your reply.

 

Have you seen the document below, published on 19th July it would seem?

 

ParlInfo - Title Details

 

I have no prior experience of how a "Parliamentary Briefing Document" (or whatever they are called) works but the document seems to make it pretty clear that the ALP would slash migration to Oz just as brutally as Abbott if they are re-elected? I'm not sure whether mine is an accurate interpretation but that is my impression so far?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[connaust]

A few related points, e.g. most politicians, people etc. conflate immigration and population, and do not know what population includes i.e. quite a broad definition not limited to permanent residents, nor that it is an estimate based upon historical data... often out of date, and can fluctuate significantly from year to year.

 

But with elections, politicians' "publicly dribbling at the mouth" or "dog whistling" are supposedly intended for voters in marginal electorates.... and probably why some states are waiting to introduce SMPs.....

 

This morning on ABC and of late in other media, reported that population growth has slowed, and figures in 2011 will confirm this e.g. significant drops in Indian, South American, Mauritian students etc. for both continuing enrolments and new commencements (international students may have biggest impact on population, but they are transient and can leave..... ).

 

Further, of importance, The Australian and members of the business community have been actively promoting sustained immigration and population growth for skill shortages and ageing population, plus better urban planning and infrastructure investment, unless we want start looking at a shrinking population (like Germany, Italy, Japan etc.).

 

As Burke says, it is about distribution, and I would add, simply better matching supply with where, what and when of demand. But too often rational debate is impossible when personal grievances, intolerance and politics become involved....

 

Here is a related cartoon too.