Scott Morrison moves to insulate looming cut in immigration intake from Christchurch fallout

The Morrison government is clearing the ground for a major shift on immigration policy ahead of the April 2 budget by insisting the debate over congestion must not be "hijacked" by racial and religious fears in the wake of the New Zealand terror attack.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed a growing "tribalism" in public life that distorted debate over issues like immigration and multiculturalism.

"The worst example being the despicable appropriation of concerns about immigration as a justification for a terrorist atrocity," he said.

"Such views have rightly been denounced. But equally, so too must the imputation that the motivation for supporting moderated immigration levels is racial hatred."

The government was preparing to release a new statement on congestion and population this week, ahead of a fall in permanent migration to be revealed in the budget, but held off after Friday's assault on two mosques triggered a debate over far-right extremism.

Mr Morrison moved to separate the new migration policy from the political argument over extremism by saying a discussion about the annual migrant intake was not a debate about the value of migrants.

"It must not be appropriated as a proxy debate for racial, religious or ethnic sectarianism," he said.

"Just because Australians are frustrated about traffic jams and population pressures encroaching on their quality of life, especially in this city, does not mean they are anti-migrant or racist."

The budget is expected to show a fall in the annual intake of permanent migrants from about 190,000 to about 160,000, in line with Mr Morrison’s comments last year about making the growth more sustainable.

While the permanent intake does not include hundreds of thousands of overseas students and temporary workers, the official cut is likely to lead to a fall in projected tax revenue to be confirmed on budget day.

The government is also finalising measures to encourage migrants to work in regional areas after months of debate about sponsorship programs with regional councils.

Mr Morrison warned that the "mindless tribalism" of political debate could undermine practical work on migration and was fuelling a wider hatred in public life that could lead to immense costs.

"We cannot allow such legitimate policy debates to be hijacked like this," he said in a speech to the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne.

"Managing our population growth is a practical policy challenge that needs answers – answers I will continue to outline as we approach the next election."

He said this would include road and rail investments as well as setting the migration programme to meet the needs of the economy as well as the "capacity of our cities" and the needs of the regions.

The warning against an "us and them" debate triggered a swift response from Mr Morrison’s critics, who blamed him for fuelling anxiety about migrants and refugees.

"This is the same man who has built his career on scaremongering against people of colour and asylum seekers," said Tim Lo Surdo, founder of activist group Democracy in Colour.

"Scott Morrison is a professional fear-monger whose desperate scapegoating of the Muslim community over many years has normalised the kind of hatred that was at the root of Friday’s terrorist attack. He has no moral footing to talk about a better standard of public debate."

Labor frontbencher Ed Husic said Mr Morrison and other Liberals and Nationals shared responsibility for failing to speak up against racism in the past.

Labor MP Ed Husic.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Husic said he had been targeted by Liberal opponents who raised his Muslim faith against him during the 2004 election campaign and he did not see Mr Morrison, who was NSW Liberal Party director at the time, express any concerns at the tactics.

"I think there is a need for leadership in political and media circles to be exercised at the right point of time – not some time later when you’re trying to airbrush what’s gone on, but to deal with in the public space," Mr Husic said.

"People should not be victims of terrorism or extremism regardless of what background or faith they are. We all have a responsibility to speak up and deal with it."

Mr Morrison’s speech comes at a time of incendiary debate over the responsibility of conservative politicians and some parts of the media, such as conservative commentators at Sky News, for fuelling racial hatreds, even if the same politicians and media outlets express sorrow at the killings in Christchurch.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott dismissed the problem of Islamophobia less than two years ago, while Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was subject to strong criticism from the Muslim community for questioning the contribution of Lebanese Muslims to Australia.

Mr Morrison used his speech to announce $55 million in new funding to offer grants to mosques, churches, synagogues, Hindu temples and religious schools to protect against attacks.

The grants will range in size from $50,000 to $1.5 million and will be made available for safety measures such as closed-circuit television cameras, lighting, fencing, bollards, alarms, security systems and public address systems.

"When I say I believe in religious freedom – and I am one of its staunchest defenders in Parliament – I know it starts with the right to worship and meet safely without fear," Mr Morrison said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also called for caution in public debate but focused his remarks on the media and, especially, the social media platforms that spread the live-streamed video of the first Christchurch attack.

"The traditional media – newspapers, radio stations, television – they have to exercise caution before they publish stories. Now with the new media, with the new social media platforms, we haven’t seen that same caution before something is published," Mr Shorten said in Perth.

"And after the event, eventually, despicable, dangerous, vile, perverted things get taken down.

"That’s really shutting the gate after the horse has bolted."

Mr Morrison pointed to a growing extremism in some debate as people interacted only with those they agreed with and showed no respect to those with whom they disagreed.

"As debate becomes more fierce, the retreat to tribalism is increasingly taking over, and for some, extremism takes hold," he said. "This is true of the left and the right."