An " Open Door " immigration policy ?

 The Labor/Greens coalition is pulling our immigration policy in different directions.  There are indications that elements within the Greens favour a policy which accepts all comers - similar to the policy that prevailed in the United States of America during the seventeen and eighteen hundreds - and even into the early years of the twentieth century.

America had an empty land to fill - and it did that by attracting the poor and homeless from Europe  and offering sanctuary to those suffering religious persecution.   Vast hordes poured through Ellis Island - and few were rejected.

The world looked at America as the land of opportunity - whose streets were paved with gold.   Reality was very different !   The majority prospered through honest hard work and ingenuity - but those that fell through the cracks received no comfort from a welfare state.   America was founded on the principle of paying for what you receive - be that food or medical attention - or a roof over your head.   If you have no money - you receive nothing.

Australia has evolved a vast welfare umbrella.   We presently accept somewhere between eighty thousand and well over a hundred thousand new settlers annually.   The moment they gain that precious Citizenship certificate Medicare ensures that they receive free hospital treatment, and the vast panoply of benefits includes free education for their children to the litany of " entitlements " encompassing everything from the birth of a child to retirement in old age.

This would not be possible if we opened the door to unlimited migration.    The incoming numbers would swamp us and housing such hordes would be beyond our resources.   We would see the emergence of shanty towns such as exist in Dhaka and Manila - where too many people in too little space create shelter with discarded wood, tin and cardboard.

What we need is a clearly defined immigration policy -  and the voting public has a right to demand that the various political parties declare their intentions so that it can be an issue at the next Federal election.

The present situation is untenable.  We can not go on indefinitely with migrants locked behind barbed wire for long periods of time while differing policies dictate who will - and who will not - be accepted as refugees.
Those conditions lead to the riots and arson we are seeing on our nightly TV news - and that is the result of a migration policy vacuum !