Australia – Land of Golden Opportunity?

Cate Reynolds-Foote,

Correspondent (Oceania)

 

Australia has long been hailed as the Golden Country; we’re blessed with long sun soaked shores, stunning scenery, beautiful weather and incredible opportunities. Since the British set up camp in 1788 people have come to make a new life in Australia in sizeable numbers (not all forcibly, I swear). From the Eureka Stockade’s gold nuggets to the images of bronzed sporting elite babes the idea of ‘Golden Opportunity’ has remained strongly associated with Australia. Subsequently Australia has remained one of the most popular destinations for migrants.

It doesn’t take more than a quick Google image search to see why Australia is constantly voted in polls the world over as the best place to live. From Europe, to Africa, to Asia migrants are flocking down under, which has resulted in a 15% population increase in the last decade. A stroll through any Australian city would show a vibrant cosmopolitan and multicultural society, which fails to reflect the traditional immigration policy, which was historically racially based.

From the early 19^th century government motives to deter non Anglo-Saxon resulted in poster campaigns and scare tactics to frighten the ‘native’ white population, and segregate ‘ethnic’ communities. These sentiments became entrenched into law in 1901 with the Immigration Restriction Act, commonly referred to the ‘White Australia Policy’. This was a highly effective, albeit it incredibly xenophobic strategy that included devious tactics to control the migrant flow. One clause allowed the person conducting the immigration test, which would allow migrants into the country, to choose what language it was conducted in (rarely the native language of the person taking the test, or English). However this does not mean that new Australians were not arriving on boats and planes, it’s just that the vast majority of them were white, spoke the Queen’s English, and came from ‘The Motherland’ – Britain. Australia was nation building, with a very particular idea in mind. However, as the world underwent severe social, cultural, and political transformation this policy was progressively dismantled between 1949 and 1973. Since then Australian immigration has changed vastly. According to a report by the Australian government in 2011 migration now accounts for 54% of population growth in Australia, with over half of migrants coming from non-Anglo, non English-speaking backgrounds.

These figures have been met with mixed feelings from the Australian population, and reactions ranging from cars decorated in ‘f*** off, we’re full!’ bumper stickers to campaigns entitled ‘I love migrants’. Whilst as an Australian I can confirm most Australians are happy with, or at least tolerate current immigration policy the little discontent is generally down to fear, as newspaper surveys and amusing YouTube videos demonstrate.  In a sense, this reservation in understandable, Australians we enjoy a very good quality of life – good salary, good healthcare and education, and lots of space, though seemingly, it’s all changing. The job market in becoming increasingly competitive (competition with foreign graduates for graduate schemes is almost a painful topic of discussion for most university leavers), doctor’s waiting lists are sometimes 8 weeks long, classroom sizes are growing, and the land attached to property size is shrinking. People fear these decreasing privileges of daily life that are often taken for granted, may be lost altogether if the population continues to increase, and the current rate of immigration is not curbed.

Whether these fears are grounded is up for debate, can immigration really be the cause of the changing nature of Australian society? If the nature of society is changing due to population size, and over half of Australia population growth is due to migration, then arguably, yes, migrants are having an adverse affect Australian society. However, figures are also showing that migration gives a large boost to the economy, with much needed tax and foreign money and investments being pumped into Australian economy. Additionally an increased workforce, leads to increased production and services. Despite this the Australian government has recently begun to tighten immigration policy. Visas are increasingly difficult to obtain, and as of March 2013 they are also increasingly expensive. The increase in price and the increasingly difficultly to obtain them suggests that the Australian government too views a rapidly increasing population as a threat, and that it is better to be allowing entry to those who are most likely to bring the greatest return to the state. So while immigration to Australia is restricting once again this time round the state doesn’t mind what race the people arriving are, as long as their pockets are deep, which leaves the opportunity for those already well endowed with gold.

Image Courtesy: Phil Whitehouse from London, United Kingdom, aka Phillie Casablanca on Flickr