The Sydney broadcaster, Alan Jones, interviewed me recently on his morning radio program. During a conversation about my contention that we should have a national discussion about our future population, Jones asked me about Muslim immigration to Australia. Let me quote from the transcript:
Jones: ….you’re saying that any migration program should be in the national interest. You further say that, basically, in all of these issues we should be taking the public with us. Right, should we therefore be worried about the growth of the Muslim population just as people are concerned in Europe, you’re not allowed to talk about this?
Andrews: Well firstly I think you should be able to talk about it Alan. It is ridiculous if you can’t talk about any subject and in fact what happens when a subject becomes politically incorrect to talk about, then it ends up with a backlash. I think part of the Hanson movement, back in the early 1990s, was because some subjects were simply said to be off the table, they couldn’t be discussed and a lot of Australians wanted to discuss them.
Now whether they were right or wrong is not the point, in a democracy surely we have to be able to have a discussion.
Jones: And if you go into Western Sydney should we be worried about the population mix in these parts of Australia?
Andrews: One of the great things about Australia traditionally is that once people have come here, yes they tend to settle in a certain area but over a period of years, perhaps a generation, then they dispersed into the rest of the community.
Jones: That’s right.
Andrews: And that had been the pattern of Australia for…
Jones: But those were people, they were migrants based on nationality not on religion.
Andrews: They were and you know my electorate in Melbourne is a classic example of that. I have got people from all over the world living in my electorate…
Jones: But they were Italians and Greeks and they were Lebanese and those nationalities absorbed into the Australian culture and now we have this contest.
Andrews: Yes and it’s happening with Asians, I have got Asians as well…
Jones: It is Asians, quite, but this is now a religious contest, what you believe…
Andrews: Leaving aside the question of it being a particular religion, I think that to have a concentration of one ethnic or one particular group that remains in an enclave for a long period of time is not good and it has not been the way in which we have had growth and immigration in Australia.
Jones: And this is what you said. You said for a migration program to succeed it needs to retain broad community support.”
The discussion then moved to another issue.
The reaction to that discussion has been overwhelming. Despite a few sensational headlines such as “Andrews sets up enclave of anger”, I have been inundated by emails and telephone calls from all over Australia.
The vast majority of people who contacted me were supportive. Some identified themselves as Liberal voters, others Labor, and even the Greens! The names suggested that many of them were of an immigrant background themselves.
Most said, “Thank you for speaking up.” Others said, “Thank you for having the courage to speak about this matter.” Still others added, “This is what many of us think.” Even the few who disagreed with the substantive issue often said “We should be able to discuss it.”
The response was consistent with the Vox polls conducted by various newspapers.
There is no doubt that the discussion struck a chord with many Australians. Indeed the whole population issue is a concern to people worried about congested roads, over-crowded public transport, inadequate water supply and the threat to the amenity of their suburb or town.
When they are told blithely that we will have 35 million people in a few decades and that a “big” population is a good thing by a Prime Minister who cannot even control our borders, their concerns compound.
Many Australians resent the attempt to silence debate by promiscuous allegations of racism against anyone who raises these issues.
If my correspondents represent the mainstream view of the public, then Australians want to discuss population, immigration and our future.
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