Pauline Hanson delivered another of her trademark fiery speeches on immigration, in the senate last Thursday in which she accused the Government and the opposition of acting like drunken fools pouring petrol on a bonfire, when it comes to their immigration and population polices.
Bottom line is that Hanson like many others has called for a reduction in Australia’s net immigration from its current record high levels of around 200,000 to around 70,000, in order to restore stability to Australia’s population.
At 200,000 per year that is the largest per capita immigration program anywhere in the world.
To wrap in some kind of context, that is another Hobart (225-230 thousand) Townsville (190,000) or Geelong 235,000) EVERY year.
Not as a once off BUT EVERY year. Year in Year out.
It strikes me that what we’re seeing here, with our year on year economic growth linked to our population increase, is nothing short of a demographic or population Ponzie scheme whereby as long as we keep recruiting new participants or immigrants into the scheme, the returns and the economic growth as small as it is, will continue.
But of course the problem with Ponzie schemes is that they are unsustainable and when the music stops the entire edifice will begin to crumble and collapse.
Warming to her topic she said “It’s time for all sides of politics to engage in reasonable debate instead of calling anyone who wants to talk about population policy and immigration reform, a racist,”
And she’s right
She said “It is time to end mass migration and for The Government and Labor to enact a sensible immigration policy that will be to the benefit of our future generations,”
She went on to explain how, as immigration numbers have increased and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person has declined, the standard of living in Australia has been steadily dropping for the last three decades.
There are a number of issues wrapped up in this.
As we are only to aware, most of the 200,000 per year are gravitating to either Sydney or Melbourne and this is having a major impact on the supply of housing and therefore housing affordability (another topic) then of course there’s infrastructure, not only all the stuff your familiar with like roads and rail, hospitals, schools, nursing homes, but also the below ground stuff that is out of sight and out of mind like sewerage, water, gas AND — electricity.
What about jobs. What about our various welfare programs for those that can’t get jobs?
Surely, by any measure a population increase of that magnitue, 200,000 EVERY year is unsustainable.
Anyway, surprise, surprise following the speech, Senator Hanson’s notice of motion on immigration was blocked by the Senate.