The question I raised on Friday, Paul is, does this now set the precedent that when we have a certain group of people coming into Australia, it’s the role of the Immigration Minister to welcome them personally. It doesn’t seem right to me. What say you?
Senator Scarr
Well, I think everyone needs to be treated the same way. Mark, that’s, that’s my firm view and I think people have raised some reasonable questions.
Mark Levy
Just on Tony Burke and him trying to weaponize this. He’s trying to turn this into the whole, you know Liberals saying this about Indians and Chinese migrants to this country, I think we’re right to question Mr. Burke as to why he’s turned up to the airport and the secrecy under which he’s done it, don’t we?
Senator Scarr
Oh, absolutely and from my perspective, this is a question about transparency, and as I said, we had to learn about this from Chris Kenny’s Program on Sky. There was absolutely no transparency about this and when colleagues have raised reasonable questions, they get personally attacked by Tony Burke, and that’s just completely unacceptable, completely unacceptable.
Mark Levy
Do we need to have a legitimate debate around net overseas migration, Paul? Because, as soon as I raise it, I’m labeled a racist. Your colleague raises it, she’s labeled a racist. I mean, why can’t we talk legitimately about the amount of people and those people from countries that are coming into this country?
Senator Scarr
We need to have a legitimate debate. We need to have debate about this really important matter of public policy and the fact of the matter is, when Labor first came to government election before last, they estimated that net overseas migration in their first year would be 235,000, it was in fact over 500,000. The next year, again, they projected 235,000 – it was over 400,000 and even in the last year, the last figures are still 100,000 higher than the numbers coming in pre the covid pandemic. So, it is an issue that needs to be discussed. There is a housing supply crisis in this country. Back in 2014, Mark, we constructed 219,000 dwellings. Last year, we constructed 177,000 which is 40,000 less, 10 years later. So, there are material issues that need to be considered. We need to talk about the numbers, and we need to actually talk about the cohorts and whether or not the people coming into the country have the skills that Australia needs at this point in time.
Mark Levy
I’ve suggested the reason why Tony Burke didn’t tell anyone that he was at the airport is to avoid, I think legitimate questions like the screening of these refugees. Is that a fair comment to make, Senator?
Senator Scarr
I think the issue is that every person coming to this country, wherever they’re coming from, needs to go through appropriate screening processes.
Mark Levy
Do we know if these refugees went through a proper screening process?
Senator Scarr
Well, that’s a matter you’d have to ask the Minister. So perhaps the Minister needs to be answering the legitimate questions, rather than attacking people who are asking reasonable questions.
Mark Levy
Have you asked those questions in your role as the Shadow?
Senator Scarr
Those sorts of issues have been raised by us consistently over the last 12 months in relation to people coming into the country from war zones and let’s face it, Gaza is unfortunately a war zone, so there are real questions that need to be asked.
Mark Levy
All right, there’s been some concerns about the Opposition’s delay to announce Net Zero Policy. Where are you at with migration policy at the moment, Paul?
Senator Scarr
Well at the moment, we’re in the process of talking to a whole range of different stakeholders in relation to the issues around Immigration, and that includes numbers, but it also includes the skill makeup. So let me give you one example. Mark. We’ve got 18,000 people in this country who’ve got construction related skills, but who can’t actually work with those skills because of skill recognition issues. So at the moment, we’re looking to bring people into the country with a certain range of skills, but we’ve got 18,000 people in this country at the moment who, if we had the right processes in place, could actually be providing those skills to build more homes. So, this is an issue in terms of the skills we need to bring into the country, but it’s also a question of making sure we make the most of the skills in this country and it’s a debate we need to have, and it’s very legitimate to have this debate.
Mark Levy
Is there any idea on whether the Opposition will commit to a number like Peter Dutton did to lower net migration, or is that still up for debate?
Senator Scarr
Well, I think there needs to be a discussion in relation to numbers and there are two sides of the equation. There are the arrivals side, but there’s also the departure side and we have now in this country, 100,000 people who made onshore asylum claims, who are still in this country, notwithstanding they failed in making those claims. So, we need to be looking at the numbers of people coming into the country, but also people who are in this country, who’ve made, for example, asylum seeker claims, but have failed, but are still in this country. So, there’s two parts of the equation.
Mark Levy
Alright, one last one before you go and appreciate your time. Your colleague, Andrew Hastie, has been criticised for saying high immigration is making us strangers in our own homes. Is he right?
Senator Scarr
Well, Andrew is a passionate advocate for his community, and I know he’s deeply concerned as I’m deeply concerned about the ability for young Australians, in particular, to buy their first home.
Mark Levy
So, do you agree with him?
Senator Scarr
Well, I prefer to look at the facts around the numbers, and also the ability to buy your first home on the market. So that’s the focus I have at the moment in relation to debating these issues.
Mark Levy
Well, there’s a lot up in the air at the moment for the Opposition. Hopefully an announcement on Net Zero and Immigration will come sooner rather than later and I think Paul, with respect, given a whole group of refugees entered the country, and we’ve had their hands shaken by the Immigration Minister, Tony Burke a couple of Fridays ago, I think some legitimate question needs to be asked, not only by the media, but by your office as well. I thank you for your time, and hopefully we can get some answers out of Mr. Burke’s office. Appreciate your time.
Senator Scarr
Thanks, Mark.
