Migrant plans on nose for voters

MOST Australians want less immigration and believe the country is in danger of losing its culture and identity, says a new report.

The Australian Population Research Institute survey shows that most Australians do not support arguments by “elites” to justify a “Big Australia” powered by huge migrant intakes.

More than 70 per cent of voters say Australia does not need more people, while 50 per cent want a cut to immigration amid concern over urban congestion and house prices.

Less than a third agree with federal Treasury’s view that more migrants are needed to promote economic growth, and only 20 per cent think it’s needed to offset population ageing.

A Big Australia: Why it May All be Over, to be released on Tuesday, is by TAPRI head Dr Bob Birrell and Swinburne University of Technology adjunct sociology professor Dr Katharine Betts.

Its release comes as immigration is virtually suspended during the pandemic, but with big business groups pushing for it to resume at high levels within a few years.

Dr Birrell and Dr Betts claim their November 2019 survey of 2200 voters, and a continuing political realignment trend, could spell bad news for Big Australia supporters.

“It shows that since the 1990s, a majority of nongraduates have switched their party choice from left-leaning parties to right-leaning parties,” the authors said.

“Graduate voters have moved in the reverse direction. From 2001, an average of 56 per cent of non-graduates have voted for right-leaning parties (such as the Coalition) while 54 per cent of graduates have voted for left-leaning parties (Labor and the Greens).”

The survey found that 53 per cent of non-graduates want migration cut, compared to 40 per cent of graduates.

Similarly, 57 per cent of non-graduates agree that Australia is in danger of losing its culture and identity, but only 43 per cent of graduates feel the same.

The authors said that since non-graduate voters make up three-quarters of the electorate, “absent major changes, left-leaning parties are destined to continue in opposition”.

“Given the Coalition’s increased dependence on nongraduate voters, this means that most of its political base now opposes a Big Australia,” they said.

Dr Birrell and Dr Betts said it could be over for Big Australia after COVID, given voter attitudes.

“If the major parties insist on returning to high levels of immigration, they will face serious obstacles,” the report says.