A Queensland MP has unleashed a firestorm after suggesting migrants to Australia could be offered cash to return to their home countries.
Liberal National Party MP Garth Hamilton said the move would ease the housing crisis and take pressure off hospitals and schools and told 2GB’s Ben Fordham the policy would give struggling newcomers a ‘fair and compassionate way out.’
Under the proposal, migrants who have failed to find work would be handed a payment to head back overseas, a scheme already used in France, Germany, Sweden and Japan.
‘In Sweden, the offer is about $6000. Germany is similar, France offers closer to $9000,’ Hamilton said.
‘It covers flights and expenses to help people go back. This isn’t forcing anyone out, it’s a voluntary scheme.’
The Queensland MP stressed the idea wasn’t about attacking migrants but tackling Australia’s record-breaking migration surge.
‘A lot of migrants who come here in good faith aren’t finding work, aren’t finding housing, and it hasn’t been the rosy picture they were promised,’ he said.
‘At the same time, young Australians can’t afford a home. We have to act now.’
Garth Hamilton (pictured) has proposed paying migrants in Australia $6000 to return home
Hamilton pointed to Japan’s use of the policy during the 2008 financial crisis, when the government paid for migrants to return home amid economic pressure.
‘That’s putting the citizens of your country first,’ he said.
‘That’s what every government should do.’
He also dismissed claims the plan was extreme, saying left-leaning governments in Europe had already adopted it.
‘This isn’t some right-wing solution,’ he said.
‘France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, these are left-leaning governments. It’s not about left or right, it’s about putting citizens first.’
Australia’s migration numbers are at historic highs, with net overseas arrivals running at about half a million a year, well above the long-term average.
Critics say the surge is pushing up rents, crowding hospitals and schools, and worsening the nation’s productivity slump.
Australia has seen record levels of migration post the covid pandemic era (stock)
‘This isn’t about whether immigration is good or bad. It’s about the rate, and right now, it’s way too high,’ he said.
He pointed to economist and University of Sydney Associate Professor Salvatore Babones, who has argued that ‘flooding the labour market with low-skilled migrants’ pushes down wages and drags on productivity.
But migration expert Associate Professor Anna Boucher, also from the University of Sydney raised doubts, saying what works in Europe may not translate to Australia.
‘This concept comes mainly from Europe, which has faced much larger refugee and migration crises. Australia’s situation is very different,’ she said.
She pointed to Germany, which took in more than one million Syrians during the Syrian refugee crisis in just a year, which led to huge labour market shocks
‘We haven’t had anything like that here. Our migration mix is different,’ she said.
Associate Professor Boucher, says most migrants in Australia are already working, or on visas with strict conditions, like international students.
‘Most migrants in Australia aren’t unemployed, because access to welfare is very restricted. The people most likely to be affected would probably still be working, just in lower-skilled jobs,’ she explained.
Anna Boucher (pictured) said Australia had very different migration settings to Europe, raising doubt over whether such a policy would work in our country
Australia’s island borders also mean far fewer illegal migrants compared Europe or the US.
‘It’s very hard to get here illegally. Most people who overstay do so on a legal visa,’ she said.
‘That’s why these European-style ‘pay-to-leave’ policies don’t really map onto Australia.’
Meanwhile Economist Leith Van Onselen said the idea had ‘merit’, but said it could ‘incentivise more fake asylum seekers to cash in on the payments.’
‘For example, we could get more tourists trying to claim asylum in order to make a quick $6k.’ he said.
Abul Rizvi, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration, has said there are an estimated 100,000 rejected asylum seekers still remaining in Australia on bridging visas as of the end of July.
‘The $6,000 payments could incentivise some of these people to return home, while also encouraging more to try for asylum. So we would need to get the balance right.’ he said.
