Hanson’s referendum: Is immigration too high?

Voters would be asked if they thought the immigration rate was ‘too high’ under a plan by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is seen at the Buderim Men's Shed on the Sunshine Coast. Picture: AAP

Voters would be asked whether they thought the immigration rate was “too high” at the general election under a plan pushed by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

With Australia’s population due to reach 25 million late tonight, Senator Hanson ramped up her call to hold a referendum on immigration at the time of the ­federal election. She is preparing to introduce a bill that if passed by both chambers of parliament would establish a people’s vote with the question: “Do you think the immigration rate is too high?”

“My view is that an overwhelming majority of Australians will say that the immigration rate is too high when they are told 62 per cent of the population increase in the decade to 2016 was the result of immigration,” she writes in The Australian today. “It is clear to see that the benefits of a high level of legal migration are outweighed by problems, but political parties depend for much of their support from the special interest groups (including business, higher education and property developers) which benefit from high immigration.”

Senator Hanson, outspoken on her “zero net immigration” policy, says the annual rate should be reduced to 70,000 “or whatever number is necessary to maintain the current population size”.

“Each year, the government of the day sets an immigration target but there is no plan to take into ­account the cumulative long-term consequences of those year-on-year decisions,” she says. “Political parties must be stupid to deny there is a problem ... because families do notice demountable classrooms at the school, crowded train platforms, buses that don’t stop because they are already full, ever-­increasing travel times between familiar destinations and long wait times to see specialist doctors.”

The Australian understands she is still drafting her Plebiscite (Migration Level) 2018 Bill but has decided on words for the question.