Liberal Democrats – Immigration demands fresh ideas, not empty rhetoric

Immigration demands fresh ideas, not empty rhetoric

Issued 11 August 2010

While the major parties squabble about illegal refugees, none of them has a coherent policy on immigration.

“The elephant in the room is extremist Muslim values that are incompatible with the liberal democratic values of Australia,” said NSW Senate candidate Glenn Druery.

“Nobody wants to discuss it, even when the Muslim writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali warns us we are too laid-back. Australia needs an immigration policy that protects our Australian values without treating all immigrants as potential terrorists and turning away those who genuinely need sanctuary.”

The Liberal Democratic Party policy has a relatively relaxed approach to permanent residence but, similar to Japan and Switzerland, seeks to make citizenship more difficult to achieve.

“Only citizens can vote, so the key is to ensure that only those who subscribe to the values of a liberal democracy become citizens. Anyone who regards women as chattels, gays as unfit to live and western culture as warranting destruction, for example, would not become citizens under our policy.

“We would also restrict welfare to citizens, circumventing those who regard abuse of the welfare state as an appropriate response to western values.”

The Liberal Democrats nonetheless support a relatively open immigration policy, including expanding the free movement agreement with New Zealand to other countries.

“New Zealanders can live and work in Australia without requiring a visa, and vice versa. We want Australia to negotiate similar agreements with more countries that have similar economies and values to ours, like Japan, Singapore, Canada and Sweden,” Mr Druery said.

The Liberal Democrats also advocate charging a tariff for the right to become a permanent resident in Australia, replacing the current quota system. This would act as a form of self-selection, as only people with high expected income will apply. It would also act as a form of payment for Australia’s public goods that are already in place, and adds to the economic benefit that the immigrant is providing Australia.

“Coincidentally, it would divert money away from people smugglers. Those who wanted to come here would be too busy saving to come in the front door,” said Mr Druery.

“Unlike the other parties, we don’t promise to stop the boats. Nor are we trying to. But by adopting a rational approach to immigration, we would sure change the incentives.”

Full policy details are on the website: www.ldp.org.au