Big population has little support: poll

A new opinion poll reveals half of all Australians believe current immigration
levels are about right, but two-thirds think all asylum seekers arriving by boat
should be sent home.
The Roy Morgan poll found that 46 per cent of people believe the current permanent
immigration intake of around 170,000 a year "should remain about the same".
Some 39 per cent of those polled in mid-March said immigration should be reduced,
while 11 per cent wanted to boost the numbers settling here.
However, when it came to boat people the picture was more clear cut.
Sixty-four per cent said asylum seekers arriving by sea should "be returned and
apply through normal refugee channels".
Just 26 per cent are happy with the current system while another 10 per cent either
want some other system in place or don't know what should be done.
The poll was released on Thursday as the federal government and opposition continued
to trade blows on the population front.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison was forced to backpedal after Labor,
big business and some of his own colleagues questioned his call to cut net
migration.
New Population Minister Tony Burke, who will take a year to devise a strategy on how
to deal with a burgeoning Australia, admitted his work wouldn't actually pin down
how big the nation would be by 2050.
The Roy Morgan poll of 670 Australians found 81 per cent of people don't want the
country's population to exceed 35 million by 2040.
It supports a Lowy Institute poll released earlier in the day which found 69 per
cent of people wanted the population to be 30 million or less in 40 years time.
Pollster Gary Morgan says while Australians are opposed to a huge population
increase they generally support migrants.
"Australian views on immigrants are generally positive with 39 per cent of
Australians saying immigrants change Australia for the better compared to 32 per
cent that say immigrants change Australia for the worse," Mr Morgan said in a
statement.
"Looking at different types of immigrant shows that majorities of Australians are in
favour of skilled migrants (87 per cent), family reunion migrants (78 per cent),
Muslim migrants (55 per cent) and asylum seeker migrants (50 per cent)."



Delete & Prev | Delete & Next