Why One Nation endangers Australia’s homeless — and everyone else

Does Australia have an illegal immigration problem, or do we have a compassion problem? Editor Michelle Pini discusses the tragic death of a young “non-resident” as the dog whistling intensifies in One Nation.

IN DECEMBER, a teenager died on the streets of Sydney’s CBD; His lifeless body went unnoticed for six days. It was as if he were invisible, largely unseen even before his untimely death. He died alone.

You see, I’m 32 years old Bikram LamaAn international student from Nepal was “non-resident”. He was homeless when he died and the cause of death has not yet been determined.

As a “non-resident” Bikram had no right to social housing (or temporary accommodation), Centrelink, healthcare or any other support. This kind of thing is reserved for Australian citizens only. Employment for non-residents is also annoyedMost are allowed to work less than 48 hours every two weeks.

In Australia, “non-residents” are undocumented people, asylum seekers, New Zealand citizens (arriving after 2001) and temporary visa holders; many of them are international students like Bikram.

This is not an isolated case. By the way One in five homeless people in the City of Sydney are not Australian residents. The situation is similar in other major cities in Australia.

So when Pauline Hanson and her One Nation racist group talk about “illegal” immigrants and try to blame all the troubles of the malcontents on them, these are the people they are slandering. People love Bikram Lama. People who actually pay a lot of money to come here. People who have done nothing wrong. People dying on the streets of rich, wealthy politicians like Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce, and the media moguls and miners who finance those politicians and their hatred, like Gina Rinehart.

Australian universities are now serious, money-making businesses. They run effective international campaigns to recruit overseas students who pay more to study here than Australian citizens.

Cost of studying in Australia for international students estimated Between $45,000 and $95,000 annually.

According to a Central Bank reportInternational students contribute over $50 billion to the economy annually.

However, One Nation’s immigration policies aim:

Deport 75,000 illegal immigrants because…

…Visa overstayers, illegal workers and illegal non-residents are undermining national security, undermining wages and denying Australians public services.

One Nation also aims to:

‘End student visa loopholes that turn studying into a backdoor into permanent residence or low-paid work.’

Like much One Nation rhetoric, the facts do not support claims that temporary visa holders (students or others) are undermining our economy or disrupting our support systems.

The truth is that most of them are not rich and have to go to extreme lengths to get an education here. Bikram’s family was in a difficult financial situation and I had to sell some of it. Hoping for a better future, they decided to send him to Australia to study computer science.

In fact, if anyone is being treated unfairly, it is the temporary residents who pay exorbitant fees to study here and are then left to their own devices—without a support system in sight—when they are unable to sustain life here and return home.

Bikram found himself in a difficult situation and failed to renew his passport; He lost touch with his family as his life and hopes for a better future spiraled into homelessness.

According to ABC report:

‘…They had no idea what his life had become until the Nepalese embassy contacted Bikram’s family and identified his body, which was so badly decomposed that DNA samples, dental records and fingerprints were requested.’

But it’s not just about Bikram Lama; no matter how devastating his story is. And it’s not just about immigration; although it’s a hot topic, thanks to increasing global interest in so-called “populist” parties such as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

Despite the unfounded dog whistles, just in case bringing students here under the pretense of a better life and letting them live and die on our streets when they run out of money isn’t enough, Hanson wants to:

‘Introduce an eight-year waiting period for citizenship and welfare so newcomers can contribute before receiving it.’

And finally, if we gather our hearts from time to time and accept people seeking refuge, One Nation wants to:

‘Withdraw from the UN Refugee Convention because Australia will not be dictated to by foreign entities when deciding who we accept into our nation on humanitarian grounds.’

This second claim is perhaps the most ridiculous, because although UN Refugee Conventionoften in Australia violated This was particularly the case during the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison regime, which tortured refugees on Nauru and Manus Island for a decade.

In fact, if Australians need a group of people to channel our anger at the failings of our society, we need look no further. clearly Racist politicians like Hanson. One Nation by Pauline Hanson, whose politicians are preparing to sell out to America’s National Rifle AssociationNRA) and the chief of staff is a convicted criminal. One Nation, whose leader accepts private planes as gifts from billionaires and whose salary is his own jumped It rose by $100,000 to $340,900 a year after co-star Barnaby Joyce defected to One Nation, making it an official “little party”.

This whistling rabble continues to spread hatred and division in exchange for eye-watering salaries. He promises to help those fighting but instead votes for Hanson against all of the following relief measures:

• upgrading JobSeeker;
• Disability Royal Commission reforms;
• increasing child care subsidies;
• paid family support;
• workplace protections;
• public school funding;
• TAFE and university funding;
• affordable housing measures;
• social housing; and (of course)
• Any measures that might help newcomers.

This story is not just about Bikram Lama or other residents.

It’s about our compassion, or lack thereof. Many Australians do this in a challenging way. Inequality is rising both here and globally. While the Albanian Government is trying to solve at least some of these problems, there is still a lot of work to be done. This cannot be denied.

But if we are comfortable blaming our problems on the most vulnerable, if we are okay with letting young people who have already paid for the privilege of being here and have so much to contribute sleep helpless and alone on our streets, and if we are happy to pass them by even as they take their last breaths, then the problem is us.

This editorial was first published as part of the Independent Australia weekly newsletter. Subscribe to IA to access all of our work for as little as $1.15 a week and help power our journalism through 2026.

Follow managing editor Michelle Pini on Twitter @vmp9 and Bluesky @michellepini.bsky.socialAnd Independent Australia on Twitter @independentausFacebook HERE and Instagram HERE.

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“We are here to let Pauline Hanson know that there are plenty of people in Washington who reject her hateful and divisive brand of “Trump-style politics.” pic.twitter.com/DityiG1xCe

— stranger (@garip10) June 11, 2026