Some migrants resist equality: Abbott

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says some recent migrants oppose equality and he
suspects Australians are anxious that citizenship is given away too lightly.
Without mentioning specific ethnic and religious groups by name, Mr Abbott has used
an Australia Day Council address in Melbourne to raise controversial immigration
issues.
"Some recent immigrants seem resistant to Australian notions of equality," Mr Abbott
told the audience on Friday.
"There is, I suspect, an anxiety that the great prize of Australian citizenship is
insufficiently appreciated and given away too lightly."
He also suggested that unauthorised boat arrivals had raised fears that Australia's
borders are again uncontrolled and said people were concerned about whether the
environment could cope with population pressures.
Asylum seekers arriving by boat could not be compared to authorised visitors who
overstayed their visas, he added.
"There is an important distinction between boat arrivals on the one hand and, on the
other, people who arrive without putting themselves in peril, on a valid visa, and
only subsequently become unauthorised overstayers."
The opposition leader also hinted that recent attacks on Indians could be
discriminatory.
"We should be especially concerned at the possibility that ethnic Indians have
become the victims of racially motived crime."
In the speech Mr Abbott evoked John Howard's 2001 re-election mantra, in which the
then prime minister said: "We will decide who comes to this country and the
circumstances in which they come."
"John Howard's declaration about Australians controlling who comes to this country
resonated because it struck most people as self-evidently and robustly true," the
opposition leader said.
He attacked the Rudd government's border protection measures, saying that while
people smugglers were the main villains, governments which allowed desperate people
to think that getting on a boat might be a short cut to permanent residency would
not be blameless.
While Mr Abbott conceded that Australia's problem with boat arrivals was smaller
than in the United States or Europe, he raised concerns about terrorism if new
arrivals were not controlled.
"Still, in a world where crime and terrorism are international in scope and where
every developed country's social security system is under pressure, a policy of
benign indifference to new arrivals would defy common sense," he said.
Mr Abbott argued Australia was a more tolerant nation, despite its history.
"For all the misguided and sometimes cruel treatment of Aborigines, the ethnic
typecasting and occasional snobbery which still exists, Australia has rarely seen
domestic discrimination based on race or culture," he said.
No mention was made of the White Australia policy, which was law from 1901 until 1973.
Immigration to Australia had been a success "almost unparalleled in history".
Mr Abbott added that supporters of tougher border protection measures needed to
understand "it's no reflection on boat people that they want to come to Australia".
He appeared to support a growing population based on migration.
"The immigration rate should depend upon the strength of Australia's economy, the
confidence of our society and the readiness of potential migrants to make a
commitment to their new country," he said.
Australia did not have a "fixed carrying capacity".
"My instinct is to extend to as many people as possible the freedom and benefits of
life in Australia," Mr Abbott said.