Racists are minority, they exist everywhere: Australian Minister Julian Hill

There is a small percentage of racists in every part of the world and they are scared of people who are different, says Australia’s Assistant Minister for International Education, Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs Julian Hill. He was referring to the anti-immigration protests that took place in Australia, which singled out Indians.

The Minister was here the other day to take part in an MoU signing ceremony between Andhra Pradesh and Australia in the fields of clean energy, advanced manufacturing, inclusive education, student mental health and skill development.

Responding to a question on the ‘March for Australia’ protests in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and other cities, expressing discontent over perceived endless mass immigration singling out Indians, the Minister said, “The truth is, in every human society on the planet, there are a small percentage of people who express racist sentiments. It happens here in India, it happens in every country in the world. They are scared of people who are different. The sentiments you’re talking about don’t represent the vast majority of Australians. We see that from the surveys that most Australians cherish a multicultural character. And community concerns about the rates of migration, every government dials up and down migration every year in a budget to determine, according to the economic circumstances of the country.”

Calling Australia the world’s most successful multicultural democracy, the Minister said that for generations Australia had welcomed people from all parts of the world, including many Australians who claim Indian heritage, some born in India, and many whose parents migrated. They are now Australians with Indian heritage, he said. The country has many Telugu speakers in southeast Melbourne.

Australia is safe

Inviting students and professionals from India, the Minister said, “I’d say to young Indians, genuine, high-quality students who are exploring international study, that Australia is safe. It’s welcoming. And we know from the surveys and the research that we do that overwhelmingly, people have a good experience. Now, most people who seek to come and study in Australia do so for a period of time, and then they return home. They take the skills and the premium education that they’ve invested in with them into their careers.”

Policy to reduce overseas migration

The Minister further spoke about the dynamic changes in immigration and the policy to suit the requirements. After COVID-19, Australia’s borders reopened after population growth had turned negative for the first time since World War II. The return of large numbers of people then caused net overseas migration to rise sharply.

“Our government was elected in 2022, and we’ve said very clearly that net overseas migration rose too fast with the policy settings that we inherited from the former government. And so we’ve changed some of those things to bring net overseas migration down. But I say, that people who seek to come for a temporary purpose to Australia, whether that’s for a holiday as a tourist, to see family and friends, to study for a period of time, if they meet the visa requirements, they’re very welcome to do so. They don’t count as one of our permanent migrants, but not everyone who comes to study in Australia can stay,” the Minister said.