Hastie left with a Scarr in Liberals immigration spat
The Liberals, led by Sussan Ley, are determined to tread a moderate path on immigration, despite calls for a more populist approach championed by high-profile supporter Andrew Hastie.
This was evident in the speech of the man who leads the Liberals’ immigration policy and has criticized his right-wing colleagues in a way that has created internal tensions over immigration.
Paul Scarr also hit out at Hastie, the coalition’s former home affairs spokesman, who resigned from his post last week after accusing the opposition leader of leaving him out of immigration policy development.
Mr. Hastie called for a halt to mass immigration and said “we are beginning to feel like strangers in our own home,” in line with white nationalist Enoch Powell’s 1968 anti-immigration “Rivers of Blood” speech in Britain.
Addressing the comments directly, Senator Scarr said Mr Powell’s speech was “provocative” and he was subsequently kicked out of the shadow cabinet.
Senator Scarr quoted a response from Mr. Powell’s then-colleague who said “it would be a disaster” if the government’s two major parties “tried to capitalize on deep feelings or gain political advantage on this issue.”
“As shadow immigration minister, I feel the echo of those words today,” Senator Scarr said at the Australian Migration Institute’s annual conference in Melbourne on Friday.
“The debate about Australia’s immigration policy needs to be had, it is an important debate.
“But the debate needs to be based on evidence and facts, it needs to be measured and taken into account.
“He should not try to inflame emotions, but instead act in good faith on issues that need to be discussed in our national interest.”
Senator Scarr also discussed immigration in the context of multiculturalism, noting that although a study showed half of Australians thought immigration was too high, three in four people who felt this way also said multiculturalism was positive.
He said anger over immigration stems more from housing and economic issues that need to be addressed.
“This cannot be addressed alone, we also have a housing supply problem, this is also a problem.
“What I’m saying is that I recognize that you can’t avoid doing the hard work of developing an immigration policy. It’s multi-faceted. It’s complex. It requires analysis and detail.”
“Our immigration policy must be in line with our national interests, but more than that, the debate on immigration policy must also be in line with our national interests.”
Senator Scarr and Ms Ley are factional allies.
The speech signals that Ms Ley is determined to avoid a more populist approach to immigration that benefits right-wing parties abroad.
The fact that this message was delivered amid internal tensions over the approach shows that the leader is directly confronting the party’s issue of division.
Immigration troubles for the Liberals began when firebrand Liberal Jacinta Nampijinpa Price made derogatory remarks about Indo-Australians and she was eventually removed from office.
The comments sent her federal and state colleagues into damage control and spurred Ms Ley to embark on a multicultural listening tour across Australia.
The Northern Territory senator, who jumped into the Liberal party hall after an unsuccessful bid to become deputy leader after the federal election in May, also refused to back Ms Ley’s leadership and backed Mr Hastie as leader.
Senator Price’s renewed comment angered many in the Liberal establishment, who said it was damaging to Ms Ley’s tenure as she tried to rebuild the party after its disastrous election loss.
Mr. Hastie talked about his future leadership ambitions but said he had no plans to challenge.
Although they complain that immigration is too high, neither Mr. Hastie nor Senator Price have put forward any concrete policy on the issue.
So does Senator Scarr: No immigration policy has been determined while Ms Ley awaits the findings of the inquiry into her election defeat.
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