I’ve been impressed, despite myself, with the effectiveness of the big parties’ efforts to blame the difficulties caused by their absolute failures in building and maintaining decent public infrastructure over the last few decades on immigration. Trains are crowded? Don’t blame our inability to expand the public transport network – blame those filthy immigrants! Unable to afford a house? Don’t blame the fact that we’ve flooded the market with investors by halving CGT and inflated the price with counterproductive grants – blame the diabolical Chinese! In absolute poverty because we won’t provide welfare even at a subsistence level? Look over there! A boat person getting food! It’s her fault!
Such an easy catch-all. So much less effort than actually building the necessary services and utilities on which we all rely and that will only get worse while the politicians can get away with deflecting the issue.
But I don’t think they’ve exhausted all the possibilities yet. What else can they blame on immigrants? The drought, perhaps? Childhood obesity? Our low birth rate? Your suggestions in the comments.
Moved On 
Global warming. Immigrants, especially boat people, are causing global warming.
It’s not our governments’ failure to even look like starting to decarbonise our economy, oh no.
If immigrants come from grinding poverty, where their carbon footprint is low to non-existent, and make a life here in Australia, they suddenly produce buckets of CO2 (by virtue of using our dirty electricity sources, etc). Emissions surge, and all because they moved from there to here.
Planet-hating reffos!
Joe Tripodi. Everybody knows they all vote Labor (when they finally get to vote). The sleazy NSW Labor government is all their fault.
Less polite overseas commentators would probably suggest–what with the various Immigration Restriction Acts etc abandoned less than four decades ago–that this sort of twaddle is just Australians reverting to type.
“Yeah, they tried to do a Canada for a few decades, but it’s their heart wasn’t really in it.” etc, etc.
Unemployment is also often blamed on immigrants and refugees.
Seriously though, that’s why there is such a big gain for both major parties and their big business pals in refugee bashing.
There is soooo few actual boat arrivals nobody would even notice them if it wasn’t for the hysteria of the Libs and the mainstream press.
It’s hardly as though just letting them all in would cause a huge burden on Australia, but what is clearly more expensive is providing better infrastructure etc, so easier to just keep people focusing their hatred on ‘outsiders’.
This is nothing new though, it’s been a standard play by governments for well over a 150 years…
“Even when it wuz the bears I knew it wuz the immigants.”
Jason Akermanis getting sacked by the Bulldogs was the immigrants’ fault. If they didn’t come here on boats, more money would be available for AFL to keep their players performing better, and despite being a dickhead if Aker was playing better, he’d still be in the 22 this week. If the Bulldogs miss out on a flag again this year, it will all be the immigrants’ fault.
“Even when it wuz the bears I knew it wuz the immigants.”
hehe