Several thousand humans remain living in limbo after the failed Fast Track immigration system continues to operate over generations of governments. For asylum seekers, the country roars in motion of revolutionary federal policies that dictate their future, their status, and their humanity. For citizen and non-citizen migrants alike, these policies are a cautionary whisper in the wind, a symptom of an impending storm on the shores of the diaspora.
Australia prides itself on being a multicultural nation: a welcoming haven of opportunity, security, and harmony. For centuries, the migrant community has played a major role in the economic prosperity and infrastructure that have built the longstanding foundations of our country. Yet, current federal election campaigns suggest otherwise.
Last month’s federal budget failed to improve funding for the immigration sector, further exacerbating our country’s ongoing visa crisis. On the other hand, Dutton’s campaign for the Coalition threatens to tighten our country’s already impermeable borders by promising to re-introduce one of our country’s most demonising policies: the ‘Stop the Boats’ campaign. This is inaccurate, backed by claims that immigrants are worsening the housing crisis for what Dutton deemed the “Western Anglo-centric world” of middle-class and young Australians in his Sydney pitch; however, national and global immigration statistics prove otherwise.
Research conducted by the ABS suggests Australia’s net migration influx is actually decreasing to pre-pandemic levels. This means the number of migrants coming in and out of Australia is falling without government intervention. Hence, proposals to further slash migrant intake this election will only exacerbate the blockades of international students and skilled migrant workers crucial to some of our country’s largest assets: education, construction, and tourism sectors. Enforcing permanent migration cuts disrupts the social unity that the government prides itself in sustaining, rather than directly targeting the central culprit of economic struggles, such as the housing crisis, astronomical taxes, and disproportionate budgeting. There is no research to prove any correlation between our current migration influx and the rising cost of living crisis, yet the Coalition continues to claim migrants are causing the displacement of Australians.
While Labor has yet to officially propose their migration policies, their latest federal budget gives us a preview of what to expect — and they propose not so differently from the Opposition. Over a billion dollars were allocated to continue the operation of offshore detention centres for deported refugees and asylum seekers, and onshore detention centres for migrants awaiting visa approvals. However, the budget failed to provide any transparency on how these funds were used in the immigration sector. Instead, our debilitating Fast Track visa system was unaddressed, and promises to increase funding to support urgent humanitarian crises, including in Gaza, were left unfulfilled.
The migrant experience is repeatedly overlooked by politicians caught up in the buzz of campaigning and debating. In the tension of elections and the hopes of swaying voters, moral panics are used to generate disparity amongst the population and urge us to act in fear. However, this normalises the scope of discrimination and disunity, and paves the way for a significant injustice to the past, present, and future contributions of Australians of migrant backgrounds. The proposed policies to slash migration dehumanise the very subjects they propose to govern justly.
Migrants are demonised for treading the land which once welcomed them, asylum seekers are left eagerly anticipating their freedoms under a staggering visa system, yet our major parties frame these struggles as liabilities rather than what they truly are: systematic failures.
The effect of these proposed strategies is immensely debilitating to the critical roles migrants play in the Australian economy and society. Life in limbo and the diaspora are tribulations many Australians continue to face today, and require their government’s support and recognition. It seems our leaders are eager to revive the myth of the ‘true blue’ Aussie at the cost of migrant experiences — not to mention the First Nations peoples. Rather than demonising immigration, our policies must shift to support fundamental migrant-led industries, promoting the prosperity of our various industries including the economic, healthcare, construction, and education sectors.
Australia’s diverse range of cultures, skills, and ideas is our greatest asset towards promoting social cohesion and unity on a national and even international level. In the upcoming election, our vote is the amplification of the muted voices stagnant in the limbo and navigating the diaspora.
