Former PM Paul Keating slams Angus Taylor’s immigration policy, accuses Opposition Leader of ‘adopting racism’
Former prime minister Paul Keating has accused Opposition Leader Angus Taylor of ‘adopting racism’ through his immigration policy.
Former prime minister Paul Keating has accused Opposition Leader Angus Taylor of “adopting racism” through his newly announced immigration policy.
On Tuesday, Mr Taylor announced the Coalition’s plan to make an Australian values pledge legally forceable and compel people wanting a visa to submit their social media to immigration authorities.
The proposal has already been met with criticism, with Mr Keating releasing a statement on Thursday.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“But by adopting racism, with its shabby appeal to differentiation and primal instincts, Angus Taylor marks himself out as a political leader unworthy of the leadership of a party that has managed Australia for the greater part of the last century and which celebrated the country’s unifying values,” Mr Keating wrote.
“Racism is not simply immoral and abhorrent, it is absurd. The notion that some of us are in some way different to the rest of us — in some way born differently, of some alien biology.
“How dispiriting for the rest of us is Angus Taylor’s cowardice in not even attempting to stand and argue for principles that have been integral to Australia’s strength – principles his party has long championed.”
Mr Taylor responded to Mr Keating’s comment in a statement posted to social media on Thursday afternoon.
“I always suspected that Paul Keating didn’t support Australian values, but now he has dropped any pretence,” he wrote.
“To suggest it is ‘racist’ to put Australian values at the centre of our immigration policy shows just how out of touch he is with Australians, as is the Labor Party.
“This is the immigration policy we have to have. Immigration numbers are too high. Immigration standards are too low. And both must change.
“It’s time for Paul Keating and the Labor Party to put Australians and Australian values first.”
In his speech at the Menzies Research Centre on Tuesday, Mr Taylor also announced a Joint Agency Taskforce as a means to identify and deport “overstayers”.
The Liberal leader said that since the Albanese Government came into power in 2022, Australia’s migration program has been in “chaos”.
“Australians are fed up with politically correct preaching on immigration,” Mr Taylor said in his speech.
“Declining immigration standards have seen our door opened to too many migrants of transactional intent. People who aren’t here to elevate Australia, but to use Australia’s generosity for self-serving purposes.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke claimed the plan had nothing to do with Australia’s national interest, and was “entirely about sending a vibe to One Nation”.
Mr Taylor argues that despite declining immigration rates between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years, poor enforcement standards were allowing some immigrants to take advantage of the system.
“The vast majority of migrants who come to this country do the right thing … The problem is the system loses integrity … if we don’t put up a red light to radicals, and if we don’t shut the door to people who are abusing the system,” Mr Taylor told ABC radio on Tuesday morning.
