IN BRIEF
- A Liberal senator has said his party's proposal blames migrants for economic issues and risks dividing society.
- Taylor has rejected the criticism, saying the policy targets the government's failures, not migrants.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor has dismissed criticism from a Liberal senator who has "deep concerns" over the Coalition's migration policy and fears it "alienates" migrants.
Andrew McLachlan, a senator for South Australia, on Tuesday told ABC Radio National the framing of Taylor's plan to link immigration with the number of homes being built each year risked alienating diaspora communities across the country.
"I don’t think our rhetoric meets the needs of the broader community. I think our rhetoric used alienates migrant communities," McLachlan said.
But McLachlan agreed there was a legitimate conversation to be had about migration levels, to ensure new arrivals get the support they need.
"It's about the tone and our approach, because we cannot — you should not — approach migration as a negative," McLachlan said.
"Certainly it should be controlled, and we don't want to invite people here without giving them a society that can accommodate them both economically and culturally, but we cannot continue to blame migrants for the problems of our economy."
In his budget reply speech last week, Taylor promised to set Australia's net overseas migration level at the number of homes completed in the previous year.
He argued this would curb "mass migration" from "running ahead of the homes, roads, hospitals, schools and services Australia can provide".
McLachlan took issue with the term, saying it was unacceptable and "creates fear and anxiety in the community".
"That is not the Liberal way. We are a party of the centre-right that was founded on core foundations of care for the individual and wanting them to meet their aspirations, and that includes compassion and humility."
The Opposition leader has also said a Coalition government would generate billions of dollars by cutting welfare — including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Jobseeker, Youth Allowance and the Family Tax benefit — to non-citizens. Taylor clarified last week that this would include tax-paying permanent residents.
McLachlan said he is concerned this policy suite would create "two types of members in the community".
"I have deep concerns, coming from a multicultural community, that we are going to create two types of members in the community going forward with this policy suite," McLachlan said.
"If you’re both contributing to the wealth of the nation and one is entitled to certain entitlements, you could have almost a form of a strata-ing of our society. And I'm not sure that’s the Australian way."
Asked about the senator's remarks, Taylor denied his comments alienated migrants.
"No, it alienates the government that's got it wrong," he said.
"We think migration is incredibly important to this country. It always has been and always will be. The numbers cannot be too high and the standards cannot be too low .. and Australians are saying it must be fixed now."
Taylor also defended his use of the term "mass migration", arguing Labor was exceeding its own immigration targets while failing to meet its housing goals.
Opposition home affairs spokesperson Jonathon Duniam has defended Taylor's language, saying it reflected what he described as an immigration system that was "out of control".
"If we focus on the language, we're never going to deal with the issues, we're never going to provider new Australians, immigrants to this country the services they need and deserve when they come here to make a new start of life and take advantage of living here," Duniam told the ABC's 7.30 program on Monday.
He also argued restricting welfare to citizens wasn't about punishing tax-paying residents.
"This is not about punishment, but it is about trying to incentivise that pathway to Australian citizenship. People come here, they want to be a part of this country. Part of being a part of this country is that safety net that many of the services we're talking about is provided to Australian citizens for."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said migrants and permanent residents made an important contribution to the nation and accused the opposition of attempting to win votes back from Pauline Hanson's One Nation.
"Angus Taylor's budget reply was all about fighting One Nation. What I'm about is fighting for our nation," he told reporters in Perth on Tuesday.
Some advocacy groups have also criticised Coalition's proposals, including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, which last week said newly arrived migrants typically face waiting periods of up to four years before they can access welfare payments and accused Taylor of fuelling division.
— With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
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