Migration the key to Australia’s success, says Bill Shorten 23/3/2017 Address by Bill Shorten, Leader of the Opposition, to the Australian migration and settlement awards at Parliament House. There are essentially two Australian stories. One which stretches back 40,000 years and the other begins with immigration. All of us share in one – or both – of those stories. All of us, except our first Australians, are migrants. Australia has given migrants a chance and you repaid that faith many times over. Our horizons have been broadened, our eyes opened by every migrant generation. You’ve opened businesses, created jobs, built communities, raised money in aid of good causes, organised workers into unions. Immigration is an irreplaceable part of who we are as Australians. More often than not, messages of extremism like to talk about ‘One Nation’ but the ultimate goal is to divide our country. You are the counterargument to that dishonesty. Migration boosts productivity, participation and population. It enhances and complements the skills of our workforce – adding new knowledge to our national understanding. Migrants are more likely to be self-employed – and also to be employed. The workforce participation rate among new arrivals is nearly 15 per cent higher than the national average. And there’s another economic asset that migration brings – language. Because of migration, Australia has a workforce fluent in the language of every economic powerhouse in the world – great and small, current and emerging. I’ve been thinking about what makes a good Australian. It’s not the number of generations you’ve been here, or where your ancestors came from. It’s not your skin colour, your wealth, your postcode, your occupation, the god you pray to or your gender. It’s what’s in your heart. Millions of migrants have come here over the decades. Millions of Australians born here. Australians by choice and by birth - are all good Australians. And Australia is better for all of us. (Translation of this article appears in Arabic section) |
