Opinion
It’s time for a serious reality check.
Anyone trying to weigh the so-called “immigration debate” should spend some time in an Australian hospital.
Immigration is being used cynically as a political wedge by those harking after a long-gone monoculture without regard for facts or practical consequences.
I recently spent several days in hospital where my experience before, during and after an operation demonstrated how deluded and dangerous this low-grade politics is. Any healthcare experience is a reminder that more than half the Australian population was born overseas or has at least one parent born overseas. My blood samples were taken days before by technicians of Nepalese and Indian heritage. The taxi driver who turned up at 5.40am to take me to hospital was a cheerful bloke from Delhi who took me straight to the correct entrance in a sprawl of medical facilities.
I was prepared for my operation by a nurse of Nepalese origin. Then I was put under by an alert anaesthetist from India who’d rung me in advance to check on a mistake I’d made in my paperwork.
The surgery was carried out by an excellent doctor of Pakistani origin, who explained carefully and clearly before the operation what would be done, and why. Over the next five days I was cared for by nurses whose families were from India, Nepal, the Philippines, Tibet and Ethiopia; a cosmopolitan mix of Muslims, Hindus, Christians and others, along with several we would once have classified as Anglo-Celtics.
If the politicians pushing the anti-immigration line could instantly send most of these people “home”, those of us connected to medical devices would have awakened to a largely still and silent building, sadly missing their skills and cheerful approach.
The anti-immigration lot will throw up their hands and say that of course they don’t mean to banish “those” immigrants. That’s not the point.
The reality is that with an ageing population and declining birthrate, cynically harking back to the White Australia era risks unleashing racism that can dishearten and discourage people that our workforce badly needs.
That lowest common denominator debate and the way it’s being delivered – basically blaming immigrants for everything – is highly offensive, unsophisticated and riddled with misinformation and contradictions.
Having a multicultural society brings great benefits and we’ll be in serious trouble if they all go “home”. Certainly, fix any rorts but leave the rest alone.
Otherwise, who will fill the huge gaps among highly skilled specialists across many professions, not only in medicine. Who will care for our elderly and those in the NDIS, staff our supermarkets, pick our fruit, build our houses – not to forget providing flair, skill and glamour in our assorted football codes?
Just over half the doctors newly registered in Australia in recent years obtained their primary medical qualifications overseas.
Well over a third of medical specialists in Australia are internationally trained.
At least a third – and probably more – of nurses in Australia were born overseas and about 17 per cent of them obtained their nursing qualifications before coming to Australia. The rest studied nursing in Australia.
Well over 40 per cent of Australia’s aged and disability carers and registered nurses were born overseas.
Those in the medical profession who were born abroad are aware of the anti-immigration rhetoric and say it’s not unique to Australia. A willingness to blame migrants for personal or financial difficulties drives such movements in countries including the US, Germany, The Netherlands and Britain.
They note that migrants who establish businesses are often very ambitious and entrepreneurial. Many have done so to pursue new ideas, to utilise their skills and experience, to achieve greater financial and professional independence. Others because it took time to have their overseas qualifications recognised, to overcome language barriers, or because they had limited local networks. Some made a strategic decision to establish a business to utilise their cultural knowledge, international experience, professional skills and connections with overseas markets.
Over time, these professionals say, self-employment rates among migrants have reached or exceeded those of the broader Australian population and about a third of small businesses in Australia are owned by migrants.
Other assumptions made about immigrants are simply wrong, as in the idea that those accepted in Australia as refugees will be a lifelong drain on the rest of us.
It shouldn’t surprise that some of those brave and enterprising enough to escape horrors in their homelands, also demonstrate significant entrepreneurial skills once they settle in Australia. We benefit enormously from this injection of talent and drive.
On the day before my hospital visit, my hair was cut by a man who was born in Iraq and later escaped to Turkey as a refugee. He made it to Australia, runs his own business and speaks Arabic, Turkish and English.
A highly skilled immigrant who has prospered in Australia, he observed that there were, of course, some flaws in Australia’s migration system, and the government was working to address them. But, he said, most migrants worked extremely hard and were not dependent on Centrelink payments.
“Migrant-owned businesses make an important contribution to Australia’s economy through employment, innovation, investment and economic activity, while also providing migrants with an alternative pathway to professional and financial independence,” he said.
Those driving the toxic and superficial immigration debate need to consider the practical realities of our country and the talented and diverse mix of people who make it work.
A big part of this is noticing what our migrant population does for all of us and thinking through what our nation would be like without them. Poorer in every way.
Brendan Nicholson is a Sydney writer.
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