One Nation’s migration policy would stop the “browning of Australia” and mainly reduce immigration from South Asia, an influential former Labor advisor says.
Lidija Ivanovski, who was Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ Chief of Staff before founding an advisory firm, wrote in an article for the Australian Financial Review on Tuesday that Indians would be the most heavily impacted by One Nation’s proposed cuts to temporary visa numbers.
Last week Pauline Hanson promised the right-wing populist party would deliver net negative overseas migration for three years followed by a 130,000 cap, reduce the number of temporary visa holders by 750,000, and deport Australia’s almost 100,000 illegal immigrants.
Labor responded days later by announcing its own migration reforms targeting backpackers, most of whom are from the UK and Europe, in order to meet its net overseas migration target of 225,000 by 2028.
In her piece Ms Ivanovski denied that Australia was being “flooded with immigrants”, despite record-high net overseas migration of 1.6 million under Labor since 2022, and said One Nation’s policy was “aimed squarely at international students, temporary graduates, skilled migrants’ families and bridging visa holders”.
“Modelling based on Home Affairs data shows Indian people would bear the largest country-level impact. They comprise 13.6% of temporary visa holders but would account for an estimated 23.3% of the modelled reductions,” she wrote.
“South Asians comprise 25.4% of temporary visa holders but would represent almost 46% of the cuts.
“This is a policy whose largest national impact would fall on Indians. It seems to be about what One Nation might perceive as the browning of Australia, and will arrest that.”
In her piece Ms Ivanovski claimed Australia was “drowning in a false narrative” that immigration cuts would result in greater prosperity, and called on Labor to “explain why we need new Australians and why crashing migration would make us poorer, not better off”.
Farmers have warned Labor’s plans to cut Working Holiday Maker visas would create price rises and food insecurity, but immigration minister Tony Burke responded to criticism by saying employers should bring in labourers from Pacific countries instead under the controversial PALM scheme.
A major poll found last week that One Nation’s support is highest among European immigrant voters, and lowest among mainland Chinese and South Asians.
A majority of immigrants from all non-European countries and regions except South Africa intend to vote for Labor, the Roy Morgan survey showed, and pollster Kos Samaras said last year that 85% of Indian voters backed Labor at the last election.
An IPA poll from March found that a majority of voters support prioritising immigrants from “places with shared values, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand”. Only 2% of One Nation voters opposed this, while 87% supported it.
Header image: Left, Lidija Ivanovski (LinkedIn). Right, Indians at a Diwali event in Harris Park, western Sydney (Facebook).
