Joining me live from Brisbane now is the Shadow Immigration Minister, Paul Scarr. Paul Scarr, thanks for your time. I’m going to start with Jacinta Price’s comments with you. Do you agree with Jacinta Price that after letting members of the Indian community into the country, they’ve turned around and voted for Labor after the government let them in.
Senator Scarr
No, No. I don’t agree.
Andrew Clennell
How how damaging are those comments to the Liberal cause?
Senator Scarr
The comments were very unhelpful, but I think it was appropriate that Jacinta corrected the record
in terms of making it clear that Australia has a non-discriminatory immigration policy. And we should note Andrew, in this regard, that the Indian diaspora has been growing over a number of years. It actually became the second largest diaspora community in Australia in 2020 after nine years of Coalition Government. So that fact needs to be placed on the record. The Indian diaspora, the Indian Australian community is a wonderful community. They’re part of our Australian story. They make so many contributions in terms of entrepreneurial spirit, in terms of their technical and skills, in terms of their small businesses, in terms of their community activities. When Australians are in need. I see every day Australians of Indian heritage helping Australians in need, due to floods, due to drought, during the covid pandemic. And the other thing we have to remember, Andrew is in terms of our relationship with India, which is a key relationship, Australians of Indian heritage are a key asset in terms of those people to people relationships. I’ve worked with many wonderful Australians of Indian heritage in the Liberal Party, and I look forward to continuing to do so, because the values of the Liberal Party align with so many people of Australian of Indian heritage. Just values of hard work, etc, etc.
Andrew Clennell
Jacinta Price says she regrets her comments, but she says they’ve been overblown by the media. Do you think they’ve been overblown? Having seen the transcript, having listened to them?
Senator Scarr
There was great hurt in the Indian community in Australia over the course of the last two weeks, and the hurt actually started Andrew two weeks ago, when a vile pamphlet was circulated, which actually started targeting Australians of Indian heritage, and that caused great hurt in the community, and I gave a speech in the Senate at the earliest opportunity, as soon as that pamphlet came to my attention and gave my support to Australians of Indian Heritage in our community, and that was the right thing to do. I note that Jacinta gave an interview yesterday, which I think was positive in terms of pointing out the contribution that’s made by Australians of Indian heritage, including in the Northern Territory, where she was deputy mayor, and she actually commented on the wonderful contribution made by our Indian diaspora in Alice Springs. I know she’s got some Indian heritage in her family as well, and she’s pointed that out, the fact that her children have worked with businesses owned by Australians of Indian Heritage. So I think that was really positive for Jacinta to do that yesterday.
Andrew Clennell
Have you sought to speak to Jacinta price about her comments?
Senator Scarr
I have spoken to Jacinta about her comments, and that’s when she told me about the fact that she does have children who are partially of Indian heritage, and the connection.
Andrew Clennell
Did she acknowledge she’d made a mistake to you, because she didn’t appear to apparently, in a conversation with Alex Hawke.
Senator Scarr
Well, it’s up to Jacinta to talk about Jacinta’s position and the comments Jacinta has made, but I thought the interview she gave yesterday to a very significant media outlet in the Indian community was very positive, where she talked about the Indian community being a great blessing for Australia, and her family connection with the Indian community. So I think that was really positive. And I think we’ve got to use that as the foundation now to move forward. We’ve got to move past this. Andrew, we’ve got to move forward.
Andrew Clennell
I’ve been told your leader, Sussan Ley, will be in Harris Park in Sydney’s West meeting Indian Australians today. It feels like a real exercise in damage control at the moment, doesn’t it?
Senator Scarr
Well, when events like this occur, you’ve got to reach out to the community, sit down with the community, empathize with the community, and build those foundations of trust. That’s really important. I think that’s entirely appropriate to do that.
Andrew Clennell
Now the government finally released its permanent migration figure of 185,000 during the week. Is that a number the opposition agrees with?
Senator Scarr
Well, our last permanent migration figure before the Albanese Labor Government was elected, was 160,000. At the last election, we took forward figures of 140,000 for the first few years and then recalibrating it back to that 160,000, so there are concerns, deep concerns, with respect to the issue of immigration in this country. And I note Andrew, I want to make this point very clear. When the Government released those figures during the week, they released a few paragraphs, just a few paragraphs. There was no explanation with respect to the long term planning issues around immigration. The government’s own strategic review released in March 2023 talked about the need for long term planning. So the government is allowing a vacuum to develop in relation to this debate, and that needs to be addressed. The other point I would make is in the government’s first budget after it was elected, back in 2022, it forecast net overseas migration of 235,000 in 2022-23 and the same number in 23-24, and we know that those numbers were exceeded, they wer wildly inaccurate, 528,000, and then over 400,000. So the government has poorly managed this,.
Andrew Clennell
The question of migration infrastructure. How much is that hurt by comments by Jacinta Price. You getting your point across. I might also ask you, actually Sussan Ley gave an interview during the week where she said people were concerned about immigration and its effect on the Australian way of life. What did she mean by that?
Senator Scarr
If you look at that comment in context, Sussan is talking about the pressures in terms of infrastructure, population, we are in a housing supply crisis, and I think that is adding to the pressures in terms of this debate. So I think it’s really important. Andrew, when we have these debates, these discussions, it has to be considered and measured. And once you go down the path of identifying or talking about one particular group or this group, then that’s a terrible, terrible mistake, and it leads us down the wrong path. And you see the impact across the community. So we need to be so careful in terms of these debates, and we need to get this debate to the stage where we’re looking at the long term, and we have a sustainable level of net overseas migration in the long term. It is so terribly important we move beyond the sort of rhetoric we’ve heard over the course the last week.
Andrew Clennell
Paul Scarr nearly out of time. On Nauru, the Opposition passed the government’s legislation during the week allowing them to deport the NZYQ criminal deportees. But a Senate inquiry found it could cost the Australian taxpayer up to two and a half billion over 30 years. What do you make of that arrangement?
Senator Scarr
Well, this is the situation we’re in, Andrew, when we’ve got this cohort of extremely violent criminals who have been allowed to go out in the community. The federal government hasn’t made one application to court. Not one application for community safety orders or community detention orders. Since the Senate passed legislation over 12 months ago, not one application was made to court. So there’s been a lot of concern with respect to safety. These people do not have a right to stay in Australia, and the coalition supports measures by which they can be deported from Australia.
Andrew Clennell
Paul Scarr, Shadow Immigration Minister, thanks so much for your time.
Senator Scarr
Thanks, Andrew and Happy Father’s Day.
Andrew Clennell
You too.
