"The story of Frank Lowy reflects the quintessential truth of our good fortune as a country. For we are arguably the most successful multicultural nation on earth, welcoming and embracing migrants from across the globe."
That was how former foreign minister Julie Bishop, introduced the speaker for the Lowy Institute's 2018 Lowy Lecture in Sydney.
Sir Frank Lowy's lecture focused on the benefits of immigration to Australia.
Sir Frank arrived in Australia in 1952 after surviving life in a Jewish ghetto in Hungary during World War II. His father was not so lucky, dying at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Mr Lowy says Australia would not be what it is today without migration.
"The act of migration is an act of ambition, imagination and bravery. To imagine a better life for yourself and your family and to leave behind all that is familiar requires a special kind of courage. Australia needs more of that courage. In 2013 Rupert Murdoch made the same point from this very podium. 'The nations that lead this century will be the ones most successful at attracting and keeping talent,' he said."
Born in the former Czechoslovakia, the businessman, whose Westfield shopping empire was this year sold to a French property giant for $33 billion, says Australia is focusing too much on the negatives of immigration.
He believes immigration caps are a move in the wrong direction.
A poll commissioned by the Lowy Institute, the Sydney-based study centre his family founded in 2003, suggests 54 per cent of Australians believe the immigration intake is too high, putting his views in the minority.
"I think we are moving in the wrong direction. We should bend that curve back upwards. We should be talking about targets not caps. I have also been disturbed about the negative turn of the debate over immigration. We are focusing too much about the problems and forgetting about the opportunities of immigration."
On foreign policy Mr Lowy says China will continue to play a very important part in Australia's future.
He says Australian governments should work hard to develop a cooperative relationship with China, one that would also advance Australia's interests.
"There will also be occasions on which we disagree with China. And on those occasions the best approach is to be forthright. I know that some people in the Australian debate have a different opinion. They say that China is so important that we must go along with its view of how the region will work in the future. Our interests lie in having a balanced region – with the United States actively engaged – in which Australia and other countries are able to make their own independent decisions."
At 87, Mr Lowy says he has reached a point where he feels satisfied with his life, adding that luck and hard work have helped him along the way.
"I have often said that my life has been blessed. I have reached this point in my life content with my lot. I’ve worked hard. But I don’t underestimate the degree to which luck, a supportive family, and this wonderful country, have all played a part in my success. And whilst I’ve been lucky, I think I can also say that over the course of my life I have seen the world as it is - not as it should be but as it is."
The annual Lowy Lecture has been delivered in recent years by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former CIA director David Petraeus and News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch.
More from SBS Punjabi
Anti-immigration sentiment rises sharply in Australia: report
