(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
The head of the UK Independence Party wants a return to what he calls normal levels of immigration and says a system like Australia's would be the best way to do it.
Nigel Farage says far too many people have been allowed to settle in the UK over the past 15 years because of the UK's membership of the European Union.
Greg Dyett reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
"We want an Australian-style points system to decide who comes to live, work and settle in this country. We want sensible, controlled numbers of people to come to this country but people who have got skills and trades that will benefit this nation."
Sensible and controlled numbers, as UKIP sees it, would be between 20,000- 50,000 per year.
That's far fewer than the 271,000 who moved to the UK in the year to September 2014.
"When I was elected in 1999 to the European Parliament we didn't even discuss the issue. Why? Because we'd come out of 50 years of a managed, balanced approach to immigration in this country where during that 50 year period between about 20 and some years up to 50 thousand people net had come in to the United Kingdom. It was manageable in terms of numbers and it was actually a very great success in terms of integration."
As the British general election draws closer immigration has become a key issue and support for UKIP continues to grow.
One voter who's putting his faith in the party is Derek Walker who joined UKIP less than a year ago.
"For the last 15 to 20 years I have been thinking it's time that somehow we have a peaceful revolution in this country and I've been a member of UKIP for less than 12 months and I'm now part of that peaceful revolution. We are going to turn this country and make it the country it used to be and that is why I am so keen and why I am dressed up like I am."
The rise in the popularity of UKIP has seen the British Prime Minister David Cameron try to renegotiate Britain's ties with the European Union and he's promised to hold a referendum on the issue in 2017 if the Conservatives win the May election.
Mr Cameron is planning to make it harder for new migrants to access welfare payments to reduce what he sees as an incentive to come to the UK.
The Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband used Question Time in parliament to put pressure on David Cameron over his failed promise made before the previous election to cut net migration to tens of thousands of people per year.
David Cameron told the house numbers are down from outside the European Union, but the numbers from inside the EU have increased.
He says this is because the UK has created more jobs than the rest of the EU put together.
That explanation that didn't satisfy Ed Miliband.
"Net migration cut to the tens of thousands, but now it's at 298,000, higher than when he took office. And here's what he said in the contract, here's what he said 'if we don't deliver our side of the bargain: 'vote us out in five years time'. When he said that, did he mean it? (Cameron) "There are two reasons for high migration. One is the growth of our economy and the other is that our benefits system allows people to access that benefit system straight away. I say let's keep the strong economy, let's change the benefits system, he wants to keep the benefits system and trash the economy."
A recent opinion poll has support for Labour at 36 per cent with the Conservatives attracting 34 per cent.
Support for the Liberal Democrats fell two points to just 6 per cent, the lowest level in 25 years.
The Green party is on 7 per cent while UKIP is attracting 9 per cent of the vote.
Bookmaker Matthew Sheddick says UKIP should win at least five seats, including Thanet South where Nigel Farage is standing against the Conservative party incumbent.
"Based on our odds of every single constituency in the country we have now got UKIP as the clear favourites in five separate seats, that's including Thanet South and including the two they already hold. So that's where we are pitching it in the middle, I think on a very very good day we could see them getting maybe a dozen or so, but I think that is probably the limit of their ambitions."
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