Keith Woods opinion: Why anti-immigration protesters could not be more wrong
Yes there is a housing crisis. Yes our roads are packed. But anyone thinking that slamming the door shut on immigration is the answer needs to think again, writes Keith Woods.
A report in Wednesday’s Gold Coast Bulletin brings to mind something that has been troubling this column.
Australian Medical Association Queensland President Dr Nick Yim spoke about a shortage of doctors and nurses.
We have a rapidly growing population. With that comes not just an increased need for more housing and transport options, but also more healthcare services.
Arguably, although housing and transport get discussed far more (consider the amount of commentary around light rail stage four, versus the amount of discussion regarding the new Coomera Hospital), healthcare is the most important of the three.
It is literally a life and death matter.
On the Gold Coast, the strain on our healthcare services caused by population growth is clear.
During the financial year to the end of June, emergency department presentations at our hospitals were up 7.9 per cent on the year before.
That’s on top of many years of rapid growth.
The dedicated and hardworking staff of Queensland Health are all constantly being asked to work that much harder.
Many people in our community see a simple answer to these growing pains – clamp down on immigration.
We have seen a significant rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric in recent months, mirroring the Trumpian rhetoric emanating from the United States.
It culminated, to an extent, in well-attended March for Australia rallies held around the country at the end of last month.
In this column’s view, the people attending these rallies, or sympathising with the anti-immigrant views expressed are dead wrong. And not just because they were attended and in some cases addressed by known neo-Nazis, although that was enormously disturbing.
Like it or not, this country benefits enormously from the skills brought to Australia from all parts of the world. Healthcare is a prime example.
Some of the biggest shortages being experienced in the system are among general practitioners. My own GP is from the Middle East.
I am very grateful to have him as my doctor. I tip my hat to him. As well as being an outstanding local GP, he speaks multiple languages. This columnist daily continues his struggle to fully master just the one.
If anti-immigrant sentiment takes hold, will people like my GP still come to Australia, or will they take opportunities in, say, Europe instead?
This columnist has also had occasion to spend a lot of time recently inside Queensland hospitals in support of a family member.
Again, I am humbled by the brilliance, dedication and empathy shown by the outstanding medical staff we have encountered. They are comprised of the most extraordinary Australians you could hope to meet. But also the finest minds from all corners of the planet.
Statistics show that Australia is experiencing persistent shortages of Registered Nurses, with a significant proportion of the current nursing workforce having been trained overseas.
What would happen to our health system if such people no longer were made welcome here?
The Albanese government is already limiting the number of international students allowed into the country. It has caused the closure of many B-grade English language “schools” on the Gold Coast of questionable veracity, but it has also affected our respected universities. In the long run, if it has deprived us of future doctors and nurses, it will affect all of us.
Look I get it. The housing crisis is real.
And nobody is happy about the weekly disruption in our capital cities caused by noisy marches about a conflict far from Australian shores, or in particular, the disgraceful rise in anti-Semitism affecting our Jewish community.
But is immigration really to blame?
Fault for the housing crisis lies squarely with our governments.
As for the weekly marches, well, arguably the problem is predominantly homegrown. Look at who really is staffing these “protests”.
Is it any coincidence that Melbourne – long a hot-bed of far-left radicalism – is most affected? Has anyone noticed how anti-social protests about climate change have melted away faster than an Arctic glacier now that they all have a new bandwagon to jump on?
These people are waging an ideological battle that stretches well beyond the borders of that benighted strip of land called Gaza, and was ongoing long before since October 7, 2023.
So this column preaches caution about a reflexive rush to blame immigration for our problems.
And I’d encourage readers to consider, as I do, how people from around the world who now proudly call the Gold Coast and Australia home contribute to their lives.
From people like my GP, many of the nurses in our hospitals, aged-care workers, chefs, delivery drivers.
People like the IT experts we rely on to keep everything from flights to telephones functioning, or the civil engineers we need to help build our infrastructure.
Even, at times, humble journalists.
The Gold Coast, and Australia, is not without its problems. Blaming immigration, however, will not bring the answers we need.
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