John Howard backs Abbott in calling for immigration discussion

John Howard opens up on immigration backing earnest discussion, nuclear power and Donald Trump.

‘I can’t for the life of me see why we can’t have a sensible debate about the level of immigration’ ... John Howard in his Sydney office. Picture: Adam Taylor

John Howard has strongly hinted he supports Tony Abbott’s call to slash immigration, calling for a civil, open debate about the level and composition of the increasingly controversial annual 190,000 intake.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Australian, the former prime minister also backed nuc­lear power, warned against the growing dominance of apparat­chiks in the political system and cautiously endorsed US President Donald Trump — “if you look through the tweeting and some of the apparent tantrums”.

“I can’t for the life of me see why we can’t have a sensible debate about the level of immigration,’’ he said. “I’d like to hear the debate. I really would. One of the problems with political discourse at moment is we’re losing power to discuss something.”

Mr Abbott prompted national debate over immigration in February, calling for a significant reduction in the permanent intake to ease congestion and give governments time to build infrastructure.

“No country will accept what it apprehends to be unlimited immigration. That’s the lesson out of Europe,” Mr Howard said.

“We ought to be able to discuss the composition and volume without on the one hand being branded a racist or on the other hand as somebody who wants to have completely unlimited immigration,” he said.

Turning to energy, Mr Howard, whose government outlawed nuc­lear power in 1998, said he was “personally in favour of nuclear energy”. “In 2007 remember I asked Ziggy Switkowski to do an inquiry and he recommended that we should alter that (ban),” he said.

“We were moving towards greater acceptance until Fukushima,” he added, referring to the 2011 tsunami that hit a Japanese reactor.

Appearing to dismiss calls by the “Monash Forum” for government to buy or build a coal-fired power station, Mr Howard said he was “personally not in favour of government doing things the private sector should”.

“The infinitely preferred situation is that incentives should not discourage investment in coal-fired power, which is what’s happened,” he said.

Amid speculation over whether Prince Charles would succeed the Queen as head of the Commonwealth — since confirmed — Mr Howard said it was “too early to tell” whether he’d be a good king.

“I still support a constitutional monarchy ... (and) I’m passionately opposed to the idea of an elected president, which would ­destroy our system by creating a rival power centre,” he said.

Mr Howard strongly endorsed Tony Abbott’s and others’ unsuccessful push to give Liberal Party members in NSW a greater say over candidates. “One of the greatest problems in politics is that neither major party is representative of the generality of the people who vote for them,” he said.

“When I joined the Earlwood branch in late 1950s, it had a schoolteacher, a doctor, a local drugstore owner; it was broadly representative of that liberal voting constituency in what was loosely a lower-middle-class suburb,” he said.

The narrowing was more advanced in the Labor Party, though, Mr Howard said, recalling Kim Beasley Sr’s quip that Labor’s leadership had transitioned from “the cream of working class to the dregs of middle class”.

In foreign affairs, Mr Howard said the government “had the balance right” in managing Chinese influence. “We’ve pushed back in an appropriate way, but not in any way that would damage the relationship,” he said.

As for the Trump presidency, Mr Howard said his actions were “reasonably consistent with a traditional Republican presidency”.

“You’ve got to separate the behaviour and the style from the substance,” he said.

Mr Howard, whose government oversaw significantly increased funding for private schools, said money was no longer mainly the issue in education. “It’s what is taught and how it’s taught,” he said. “I’m concerned the Catholic sector feels it’s been disadvantaged relatively speaking and I’d like to see the government and that sector engage.”