‘We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.’

This was the famous quote by then Prime Minister John Howard at his 2001 election campaign launch.

Many took it as a statement of defiance; the line in the sand to say that Australia alone will decide its immigration intake and the character of the migrants we allow into the country.

Unfortunately, what Howard was really saying was that ‘we the politicians’ decide, not everyday Australians.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, on June 30, 2024, there were 8.6 million people in Australia who were born overseas. The proportion of Australia’s foreign-born population had increased from 23.8 per cent in 2004 to 31.5 per cent in 2024, with the overseas-born population increasing by 396,000 people in 2024 alone.

To put this in context, Australia’s overseas-born population is almost double that of the United Kingdom, which is 17.1 per cent.

The Australian people have not been given a say on whether they accept the mass immigration and multicultural policies that have been implemented in the last half century.

Despite this, politicians, academia and the media celebrate migration policy and have pushed ahead with a multicultural Australia that they view as morally and internationally right, with no regard for any potential public pushback.

Late last year, when celebrating the benefits of multiculturalism, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said:

‘Think about living without multiculturalism. It would be SO BORING! The food would be all the same … I couldn’t think of anything worse.’

Malinauskas added:

‘We are so lucky. We are so fortunate to be able to have this here, and I say we should retain our dedication towards it. Multiculturalism doesn’t add to South Australia. Multiculturalism is at the heart of who we are as South Australians.’

While many would not argue that migrants have enriched Australian society, the reality is that all policies have consequences. Whether politicians accept it or not, multiculturalism and mass immigration are not immune from consequences either.

Sir Robert Menzies was aware of these consequences when he said in a 1955 radio interview on 2UE:

‘For as long as we possibly can, we ought to aim at having a homogeneous population. I don’t want to see reproduced in Australia the kind of problem they have in South Africa, or in America, or increasingly in Great Britain.’

The racial tension Menzies warned against appeared to be evident with the Bondi massacre in December.

The aftermath of the shooting should have been a soul-searching moment for the nation; questioning the reality of what our society has become and the trajectory that our country is headed.

Instead, politicians and the media scrambled to command the narrative they were feeding to the public in a tragic politicisation of the shooting.

In a clear example of the saying, ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’, NSW Premier Chris Minns has supported the passing of stricter gun laws, the restriction of protests, and has openly acknowledged our lack of free speech.

‘I recognise and I fully said from the beginning, we don’t have the same freedom of speech laws that they have in the United States, and the reason for that is that we want to hold together a multicultural community and have people live in peace.’

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is looking at a gun by-back scheme to use gun owners as a scapegoat.

In all this noise, the focus on immigration policies have become a fleeting voice.

Australians for Better Government, of which I am President, defied this by calling for the Australian people to be given the power to set immigration levels. Under ABG’s proposal, immigration intake would be determined by a public plebiscite.

The cultural tensions that we saw on graphic display in Bondi have been imported to Australia without the consent of the Australian people. Some Australians may accept this as a trade-off for the many positive aspects that diverse cultures bring to our society, while other Australians may not.

The decision of adequate intake must be put to the Australian people before any further immigration is to take place. Like with so many issues, the politicians need to get out of the way, and the Australian people need a greater say.

Steven Tripp, President of Australians for Better Government

www.australiansforbetter.com