Tony Abbott backs PM’s call to cut immigration levels

Tony Abbott has backed Scott Morrison’s review of Australia’s immigration intake, calling it ‘an important step in the right direction’ while voicing his support for a return to the teaching of Judeo-Christian values in schools

• Morrison committed to managing population growth

Tony Abbott has backed Scott Morrison’s review of Australia’s immigration intake, calling it ‘an important step in the right direction’ while voicing his support for a return to the teaching of Judeo-Christian values in schools.

Speaking after the Sydney launch of Dr Kevin Donnelly’s new book, “How Political Correctness is Destroying Education”, the former PM said: “What we saw from the Prime Minister last night in his Bradfield Oration was a recognition that continued record levels of immigration are starting to hurt us.

TONY ABBOTT BACKS MORRISON:

‘This government gets it’...... Former prime minister Tony Abbott today. Picture: AAP

“It’s putting downward pressure on wages, it’s putting upward pressure on housing affordability, and its clogging our roads and public transport.

“We need to scale (immigration) back quite substantially and I think that the Prime Minister is well and truly hearing that message from the Australian public.

“This is a government that gets it when it comes to the things that are concerning the Australian people.”

Mr Abbott with Dr Kevin Donnelly and radio broadcaster Alan Jones today. Picture: AAP

During the event to mark the release of the academic’s book Mr Abbott said he was also worried about the state of schools, saying that while teachers were often doing the best they could under difficult circumstances, if young people come out “unable to read, write, count, or think then the schools are not doing their jobs.”

Mr Abbott called for schools to ensure that students leave school culturally literate, versed in bedrock elements of Western civilisation ranging from the Gospels to the histories of the Jewish people, the Ancient Greeks, Romans, and the British.

Speaking at The Daily Telegraph’s 2018 Bradfield Oration at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, the Prime Minister said: “Australians in our biggest cities are concerned about population. They are saying: enough, enough, enough.”

“The roads are clogged, the buses and trains are full’... Scott Morrison last night.

“The roads are clogged, the buses and trains are full. The schools are taking no more enrolments. I hear what you are saying. I hear you loud and clear.”

He added: “We need to improve how we manage population growth in this country.”

But in a sign there is division among Mr Morrison’s leadership team on the issue, Defence Minister Christopher Pyne yesterday shot down calls to slash the nation’s immigration rate as a new poll showed almost half of voters would back the annual intake being cut.

“We have a continent the size of the United States and the US population is more than ten times larger than ours,” Mr Pyne told Sky News.

“We have room to grow.

“If our cities are congested like Sydney or Melbourne then we need to find ways of moving new migrants out into the regions.

“We don’t need to put a handbrake on population growth, we need to manage our population growth sensibly.”

Originally published as Tony Abbott backs PM’s call to cut immigration levels