Immigration is once again front and centre of Australian politics. Not because the system has collapsed. Not because there has been some sudden crisis. But because certain politicians have decided that it is time – once more – to make it so.
For decades, few have ridden this issue as relentlessly as Pauline Hanson, a figure whose political brand has long depended on dividing Australians along racial and cultural lines. Her rhetoric has rarely been subtle. It has been blunt, sometimes incendiary, and often directed at those who look, worship or sound different from the majority.
What is more troubling today is not that Hanson is saying what she has always said. It is that the language she popularised is migrating back into the political mainstream – and will almost certainly shape the political landscape through to the next federal election.
The newly elected Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, has assembled a team tasked with defending “Australian values.” The phrase sounds harmless enough. Who could object to values? Yet in the current climate, it is hard to ignore how such language is being deployed.
When “values” is paired with lists of countries deemed undesirable – countries that just happen to be predominantly non-white and non-Christian – the subtext becomes difficult to miss. We are not talking about visa processing efficiency or workforce planning. We are talking about cultural gatekeeping.
Australia has been here before.
Each generation produces its own moral panic about newcomers. The targets change – Southern Europeans, Vietnamese refugees, Muslims, Africans – but the script remains remarkably consistent. We are told that “our way of life” is under threat. That integration has failed. That borders must be hardened to preserve something pure and fragile.
Yet the historical record tells a different story. The Australia of today – vibrant, multilingual, economically dynamic – is the product of successive waves of migration. It is not despite immigration that the country has prospered. It is because of it.
What makes the current moment more unsettling is the role of the media. Increasingly, articles begin with the familiar formula: “The Leader of the Opposition says…” And so the frame is set. Immigration becomes the issue of the day because a politician has declared it so. The claim leads the news cycle; the rebuttal trails behind.
This is not journalism as scrutiny. It is journalism as amplification.
There is, of course, a legitimate debate to be had about migration numbers, infrastructure capacity, housing supply and social cohesion. Democracies should argue about policy. But that debate should be grounded in evidence and economic reality – not in insinuations about which religions or skin tones are compatible with “Australian values.”
When political leaders define belonging in civilisational or religious terms, they are not strengthening national identity. They are narrowing it. And when the media uncritically platform those frames, they risk dragging public discourse into the gutter alongside them.
The fear is not merely that immigration will be debated. It should be. The fear is that we are entering a period in which immigrants themselves – their faiths, their names, their ancestry – will once again be cast as problems to be managed rather than people to be welcomed.
Australia deserves better than grievance politics.
We deserve a debate that reflects who we actually are: a nation shaped by migration, sustained by diversity, and confident enough in its values that it does not need to weaponise them.
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I find it strange, that a country who’s entire population is made up of migrants, or the offspring of migrants, is divided over migration.
It’s my belief that until we ditch Multiculturalism and instead, promote Assimilation, nothing will change.
As long as some people refuse to accept an irrelevant outward display of diversity, nothing will change.
We deserve a debate that reflects who we actually are: a nation shaped by migration, sustained by diversity, and confident enough in its values that it does not need to weaponise them.
We deserve leadership. Where is it?
Where has our government explained it’s immigration policy, brought Australians along with it in implementing that policy and strongly countered these obviously exploitative populist arguments from the Coalition and One Nation?
What is the government’s immigration policy? Scapegoating overseas students? What is the government’s vision for the future? Where is the government’s immigration minister? in hiding while the Coalition and One Nation paint themselves into a corner?
Meanwhile, Australia’s divisions worsen, if that’s possible after Labor’s violent and vicious engineered attack on peaceful people opposed to the slaughter and mass forced starvation in a depraved genocide, and spent millions to lay out the red carpet for an inciter of genocide, to appease a foreign country and its domestic lobby group. Is that good government? Where is the government leadership uniting Australians and leading us forward?
This has parallels with Labor’s handling of the Voice to Parliament – kick it off then act as if it has nothing to with the government – leaving the field to the racists, including Newscorp, One Nation and the Coalition.
Labor is challenging for the worst government in living history.
The establishment, for which Labor is a useful idiot, the corporate elite, big Capital if you like are laughing all the way to the bank as we point the finger at the least powerful and squabble amongst ourselves. And what is Labor doing about this?
For four years Labor has thrown Australia’s poor and Australian’s with a mortgage under the bus to protect corporate profits – what kind of foolishness would accept that kind of governance.
Stinking Labor continually puts its re-election strategies ahead of Australia’s interests – that might be successful politics, but it is shit governance.
Labor has taken us to a dark place, where dissent is met with state violence, and is taking us to an even darker place.
There is no ‘leadership’ in Abalone’s government, only managerialism.Stale, worn out, captured and visionless.
Harry, how can they be worn out? To reach the “worn out” milestone one must first do some work.
They haven’t even raised a sweat.
Has there been a clearer case of hate speech then Pauline Hanson’s recent false and hateful attack on Australian Muslims?
Has she been charged under these new hate laws yet? Why wasn’t she immediately charged?
A cafe was recently declared a crime scene and closed for hours as police removed posters, ridiculing Putin, Trump and Netanyahu by dressing them in Nazi uniforms, and investigating whether charges could be laid under the new hate laws. The fact that the police themselves didn’t even know what was illegal under these new laws, let alone the public, shows how bad these laws are.
It begs the question though, why hasn’t Pauline Hanson been charged for clearly using hate speech, for arguably inciting hate towards Muslims. Why hasn’t Labor acted on that, are they too busy planning another violent, hateful attack on peaceful people opposed to genocide?
Are these new hate laws only to be used to silence dissent against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians? Why haven’t they already been used against Hanson’s blatant hate speech?
Labor talks of ‘social cohesion’, then brings a controversial inciter of genocide, who could have had his visa cancelled on the basis of bad character or whatever Labor used to keep the US influencer out, and unleashes state violence on the peaceful citizens of Sydney voicing their opposition to his visit, calls for the temperature to be taken down after lifting it, and then, to this stage, does nothing about Hanson’s obvious hate speech targeted at Australian Muslims.
What does that say about the value Labor bestows on a visit of an inciter of genocide compared to the lives of Palestinians and Australian Muslims?
Stinking Labor is destroying any chance of this country coming even close to uniting.
Hanson is an outragously toxic nasty idiot who has done nothing for Australia except attract other idiots so she can keep herself poisonously relevent, milking the taxpayer and sucking up to the USA and Israel.
And thats where Australias problems lay. The USA is clearly running Australias military and foreign policy and Israel is controlling Australia politically and there is ample evidence of that.
All our gifted commenters here seem to agree on lacks, so many lacks, lack of action, policy, perspective, historical balance, decency. To imagine a ruined old irritable disappointed tart of no intellectual life being a focus for hordes of irritable disappointed mememe types.., sad. And A Taylor, your friendly vacuum, awaits his call, and B Joyce floats on, the perennial drunken fornicating, bludging, grinning turdskull…but, we have leadership, apparently…
Roswell, worn out by many years dancing the Canberra two step with their only other ‘partner’, and now they’re back in the government chairs, wondering if it was all worth it,especially now, given the severity of the current challenges they’re facing.And it sticks out like the dog’s proverbials.
I agree, Harry. Such a monumental disappointment.
OK AIMN readers, perhaps it is time for us to come together and commence legal proceedings to silence the Chief Hate Merchant, Porelean & the Only Nutters party.
This will take a documented evidence showing when & how Poorlean has invoked hate speech in an attempt to encourage civil strife, or attract aspiring political candidates prepared to join the unstructured Only Nutters retirement scheme with obligatory purchasing of political materials.
I thought that GetUp!! or some similar high profile, well-funded, allegedly progressive political entity would have already begun a case for indictment of Pawlein, but the repeated outbursts show that this screech for political relevancy is just a flag-waver for another boring mainstream media manipulation Monopoly news splash!!
Perhaps it is the scribblers for the Manipulators who are the only persons concerned, as they avoid any real investigative journalism of why the bosses and foreign owned multinational corporations fail to pay their fair share of taxation in Australia for access & export of OUR natural resources.
@ gongongche: Agreed!!
@ PP: I remain overwhelmed by your accurate descriptions of Australian political figures ….. but why do voters elect refugees from reality life the Only Nutter Senators??
Cocky, and others, Tom Nichols, in his ” The death of Expertise”, 2016, exposes the emerging Trump, attacks rising strident ignorance, resorting to shock jocks, google, personal prejudice, and quotes Prof. Glenn Reynolds, as here…”To be a voter, one must be able to participate in adult political discussions. It’s necessary to be able to listen to opposing arguments…even to change your mind…so, maybe we should raise the voting age to Twenty Five…it is intolerable to be governed by spoiled children…” Our political “scene” has deteriorated. Aridity, stupidity, duplicity.
I cannot think of one value I share with the likes of Grifter Angus Taylor.
Dodgy (at the very least) water deals, false accusations against the Lord Mayor of Sydney and the avalance of unproveable denials that followed plus poisoning native grasses on his Family private property and again the unprovable, over the top denials.
He has been taught from birth, that he is a cut above the rest of us, and normal rules and laws do not apply to him, he has a licence to lie his way out of accepting responsibility for any action.
He is, after all, a scion of the Landed Gentry of the Bunyip Squattocracy.
No mention yet of first nation people. Will One Nation pollies tan their hides to match our indigenous peoples?
Phil:
I’m not sure if you agree with Prof Reynolds or not, but age is no guarantee of rationality, of the ability to listen to others, or of being capable of change. It is just as likely – possibly even more likely – to harden people into positions they have already taken.
You are surely right, Leefe, and the quote, reduced, only illustrates Prof. G Reynold’s acid irony in a doomed dullard dickheadery USA.
So tell us Thomas, how is Hanson “milking the taxpayer” any more than any other politician?
Rightly or wrongly Hanson has, over the last twenty years been more consistent her views than most other politicians.
The real and unhealthy view, is the fact that politicians are the face and voice of the electorate.
Shame on you.
Excellent analysis Michael.
Hanson has spent 30 years trying to monopolise the low IQ, racist bogan vote.
The only surprise that bogans are in greater numbers than I thought.
Meanwhile the Liberals have confused economics and racism with values.
I agree, there is a place for a discussion about the effects of immigration on a range of societal questions, but in the current environment it is fraught
Excellent comment, AC.
On nebulous rubbery ‘values’ Hanson/ON is in the fore at the moment thanks to RW MSM, ditto Farage/Reform in UK.
At other times and slightly different audience with similar themes or desired outcomes, is US fossil fueled MAGA Tanton linked SusPopAus & informs FoxNews etc..
Strategy has been to get ppl talking about immigration & population growth (= the great replacement) negatively, as a faux environmental issue to split the centre.
Also deflects from or precludes robust carbon regulation and faster transition to net Zero; greenwashing.
‘It’s necessary to be able to listen to opposing arguments…even to change your mind…so, maybe we should raise the voting age to Twenty Five’
Suggests younger people are neither educated nor politically engaged, but above median age boomers and silent gens rusted onto RW MSM are?
Chicken or the egg? We haven’t (ever?) had a broad, deep and diverse (now) RW MSM for over a decade?
RW MSM does not inform Australians, but acts as the LNP and think tank opposition to pummel the centre and spread disinformation; like the US and UK the centre is never allowed to prevail in media on any issue…. solution?
Keep their heads down and continue with granular and incremental policy actions for all Australians, which the media avoids reporting on…..
My comment is an overarching picture that trickles down none the less….
Why do we choose to remain blind and polarized?
Wake up, the issues we are grappling with have been enshrined in LAW by those who have the most influence, legislators, judges, justices, executives or administrators, state law makers, all make decisions about the structure of the ‘market’.
Housing – RE & Finance – stitched up by Howard’s Work choices (wholesale changes to contract laws), Negative Gearing & Investors which are all taxpayers funded and everyone bought it!
Media Diversification – manipulated by Nine (Costello), Stokes, NewsCorp and lobbyists. Have nothing to do with MSM now, the only thing I do watch is SBS Food programs.
Scoping out territory of acceptance (subsequent White Australia policy) and what’s acceptable, religious fundamentalism by all including the biggest hypocrites, the Catholic Church. It’s had a women problem since the Spanish inquisition which saw the rise of state power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition and still has the ‘problem’ today. Religious fundamentalism has never gone away and has been reshaped by various means.
Social cohesion has and is continually undermined by above and being amplified by big tech, IT and AI with consumer being under great pressure to get the best deals with more income and wealth to investors, less to workers with people being overwhelmed by FOG – fear, obligation, guilt – and overload of information which most people are unable to clarify or separate.
If you have a partner, and a loving relationship then count yourself lucky as we all ride thru this storm.
The 250 years failure and experiment of the USA
https://thepoint.com.au/news/260220-the-wrap-trumps-america-is-a-warning-and-australia-keeps-treating-it-like-a-guide
@ Harry Lime, Roswell, heather: Agreed. Managerialism is the refuge of the least competent.
@ jonangel: Uhm ….. ask about becoming a p[re-selected candidate for the Only Nutters and then advise AIMN readers of the cost structure, and if possible, the destination of that ”investment”.
@AC: No surprise for those of us living in regional or remote electorates, they all vote NOtional$ because about 30 years ago that ”party” did some representation of agricultural industry interests (when they were not chasing skirts and tending their own pecuniary interests).
However, the unelected political hacks who control pre-selection and ministerial appointments from their air-conditioned city offices have sold out to the climate independent, munificent foreign owned multinational mining industry that exploits Australian natural resources at no tax cost to themselves and considerable financial disadvantage to Australian voters.
Thank you John Howard for gifting a HUGE PROFIT to foreign owned multinational CSG corporations. Gee, it would be nice if Australian taxpayers could sue Howard & the LIARBRAL$ for this MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR LOSS.
Sorry, but unless you are asserting Hanson is milking the system more than other politicians, you have lost me. Please ask me the question in another form.
Regarding the One Nation party, many years ago in Mt Eliza I attended a number of One Nation meetings (they were new at this time), I needed to know what they stood for. After the third or fourth, it was suggested I either join or not attend any more. I love open Democracy.
Ahhh …. Even the ZIONAZIs controlling Australian politics have recognised that it will be necessary to remove Anus Faylure from opposition ”leader” before the next election because their now removed, but still pre-selected, ZIONAZI candidate is making waves in the Mainstream Media Manipulation Monopoly to raise his public image.
Today’s 220226 SMH reports that the ZIONAZIS controlling Australian politics want one of their own, little Joshie Frydenberg, back at the top of the LIABRAL$ manure heap.
Friedeggburgher is reported today as becoming involved in directing the traffic by demanding ”a sharp focus on religious extremism”, continuing to imply that Muslims are always the problem, and the need for the Australian government to concentrate on ”the extremists in our midst who want to hurt and do harm”.
More professional whingeing from the spokesperson for about 120,000 persons for the group that believes that are exceptional and somehow owe no allegiance to Australia after migrating here post WWII.
Funny how Friedeggburgher overlooked the Hannibal Directive authorised by the ZIONAZI Isrevil Knesset, conducted by the amoral IDF and led by the Butcher of Gaza. Just a mere 70,000+ Indigenous Palestinians assassinated, tens of thousands injured, including many kids, and a continuing enforcement of siege tactics against civilians by preventing to delivery of food, water, medical supplies, indeed everything.
And the whole campaign is supplied by the American taxpayers through the State Department for the financial benefit of the American armaments manufacturing industry.
Does this unthinking outburst by Friedeggburgher signal the early migration of ZIONAZIS to anywhere except here, though likely colonising and settling the new GAZA GOLD COAST residential development by the TACO Trumpery Board of Land Theft and other international carpet-baggers??
So why has Friedeggburgher omitted any comment about the ethnic cleansing occurring in Palestine?? Are the ZIONAZIS above international law??
For 50 years I have been listening to this “Australian values” crap.
It realy is just racism dtessed as policy.