Australia is the only country in the world in recent times to have stopped a wave of illegal migration by boat. It was a loud and clear message to would-be illegal migrants that giving 10,000 dollars to a people smuggler was actually buying a return ticket to nowhere. But just as illegal migration has to be stopped, legal migration has to be controlled. 6 ‘Overseas Migration’, Australian Bureau of Statistics (13 December 2024), www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/overseas-migration/latest-release. 13 James Jupp, From White Australia to Woomera: The Story of Australian Immigration (Cambridge University Press, 2007).

Source: The Guardian February 14, 2026 18:20 UTC