The SMH argues in its recent editorial that a more sustainable immigration program which lowers immigration back to the 20th century average of 70,000 per year-currently about 200,000 people- would secure broader and long term public support for immigration.
Given the hyperbole around boats and asylum seekers, voters could be forgiven for thinking that all immigrants are refugees. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Australia's current annual permanent immigration program of about 200,000 people dwarfs our humanitarian intake of about 14,000 refugees.
Public education on the bigger immigration issue is critical because it is an issue that affects everything - our economy, our environment and our quality of life. Due largely to immigration, Australia is now on track to double its population by 2050 to more than 40 million people, despite little real discussion and certainly no mandate for this dramatic change.
Our growing infrastructure and environmental issues do, however, have a lot to do with the tripling of our annual permanent immigration program from the long-term 20th century average of about 70,000 a year.
Conflation of refugees with our population pressures is putting at risk broad public support for immigration.
The starting point to ending the confusion and properly educating the public is to remove the jurisdiction of Australia's humanitarian intake (refugees and asylum seekers) from the Immigration Minister. There should be separate "humanitarian" ministerial responsibility for this sensitive issue.
We can then have a mature debate about population, and whether it's best to lower immigration back to the long-term average of 70,000 per year - without any reduction in refugee numbers.
I believe this more sustainable immigration program would secure broader and long term public support for immigration - and refugees.
