One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has warned Australia could face violent unrest similar to that reported in France, declaring some people entering Western countries want to destroy their adopted nations.
Mr Joyce said Australia needed to take a tougher approach to immigration and national identity as he responded to reports of riots in Paris during an interview with Ben Fordham on 2GB on Monday.
He argued Australia needed a shared national culture rather than an emphasis on multiculturalism, warning that immigration without sufficient scrutiny could create serious problems.
“Quite obviously what we see in France is people who don’t like France and in fact they want to burn France down,” Mr Joyce said.
“When you’re not basically having common sense in who you import into Australia, you’re going to import problems.”
The former Nationals leader said Australia could not assume similar violence would never happen on home soil, invoking the Bondi attack as an example.
“What is the purpose of these people burning down buildings, assaulting police, basically trying to bring France to its knees?” he said.
“Well, their purpose is they want to destroy France.”
He said Australians needed to recognise the potential consequences of failing to address such threats.
“We have to be vigilant. We have to be a bit hard-nosed about this,” Mr Joyce said.
He said Australians had a responsibility to preserve the country inherited from previous generations and pass it on to their children and grandchildren.
Mr Joyce also questioned whether French President Emmanuel Macron was capable of handling the unrest, saying the leader was struggling.
He argued countries risked importing social and political divisions when migrants retained the prejudices and grievances of their countries of origin.
“A lot of the times they’ll just take the conceits and the concerns and the prejudices of where they came from and deliver it to your nation,” he said.
Mr Joyce claimed those attitudes could become entrenched within communities and raised concerns about Islamic fundamentalism in Sydney.
He also warned removing people deemed dangerous could become increasingly difficult once they had settled in Australia and established families.
“You end up with this long-term management plan because when it’s become second generation, how do you deal with that?” he said.
The comments followed claims made during the 2GB broadcast that more than 2000 people had been arrested and 150 police officers injured during unrest in France.