Sydney faces more challenges to integrate migrants
SYDNEY must get serious about dealing with the challenge of integrating migrants into the city, federal Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge says.
NSW
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SYDNEY must get serious about dealing with the challenge of integrating migrants into the city, federal Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge says.
“By and large we do this well, but there are emerging challenges,” Mr Tudge said.
Responding to state Opposition Leader Luke Foley’s claim “white flight” was occurring in Western Sydney suburbs swamped with refugees, Mr Tudge said he found the phrase “divisive” but agreed “we need to be serious about facing the emerging challenges we have at integrating newcomers into the country”.
He said he wanted to be sure Australia does not go down what he called a European model of multiculturalism, where you get “parallel communities, not integrated ones”.
“I don’t want to cause panic or alarm, but we need to have an open conversation in relation to this and ensuring when migrants come to the country they learn English, they adopt Australian values and integrate into the community,” Mr Tudge said.
“That’s been the model of success for migrants and it’s been the model of success for our multicultural community.”
He said the issue of multicultural integration was “one of the most important” tasks he faced.
Mr Tudge put the issue of integration on the agenda in March with a major speech to the Menzies Research Centre.
“With a greater concentration, there is less likelihood of interactions with the established community and therefore slower integration,” he said.