A recent current affairs programme had a look at the Maldives, a series of islands in the Indian ocean that seem certain to disappear because of increasing sea levels.
The question asked was where would the Maldivians go when this happened. The answer was - Australia !
This is a question that we may hear more often fifty years from now, and we had better give it some thought and have an action plan for when it happens.
It would seem a reasonable proposition to the people of the Maldives. Australia is a continent with a small population. Surely there would be room for a mere 83,000 new citizens, given that we are a country that welcomes an annual migrant intake ?
A lot depends on what the Maldive people have in mind. If their plan is to seek entry as migrants, seek Australian citizenship and abide by Australian laws that should not be a problem, although the fact that their religion is Sunni Muslim would cause some people to hesitate.
Should they wish to either buy or be given space in Australia in which to transfer their nationhood - that would be entirely different . Few would countenance parting with Australian territory to create a new nation - and given the number of displaced nations likely to be inundated - we could end up like Africa - a maize of boundaries, laws, languages, currencies - and confusion.
We are a generous nation and global warming is certainly going to visit hardship in many parts of the world. The question of relocating to Australia is going to arise many times in the future - because we are an attractive place to live - and because we are one of the few places left on the planet with a large, unused land area.
Now would be a good time to set policy and let the world know what we are and are not prepared to consider. It would resolve and defuse many arguments and aspirations which are certain to arise in the lifetime of our children and grand children !
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