Australia shows the way

Recently there has been a bloodless coup in Australian Federal Politics - PM Kevin Rudd, faced with losing a leadership vote due to popular reversals on Climate Change and Immigration Policy stepped down in favour of his leading Deputy Julia Gillard.   It was a shockingly sudden reversal of fortunes for Rudd.

The Kyoto/Copenhagen Climate Change volte face was understandable after "Climategate" but the immigration move was puzzling.   Yet here is Melanie Phillips take on a trend that is also gaining speed in the UK, titled "Politicians finally hear the people say ‘enough’".

As for the boats of asylum-seekers, Gillard has made clear she wants to be even more effective in stopping them in order to protect ‘our sanctuary’ and ‘the Australian way’.

In Britain even more than in Australia — where at least John Howard or Tony Abbott have tackled such issues — race and culture have long been totally taboo. No debate has been possible about whether mass immigration might be a bad thing for communities or the country as a whole.

Even to question this has been to invite instant denunciation as a racist from the dominant left-wing intelligentsia, for whom anti-racism has long been their signature creed. 

So Gillard is now humming the same tune, saying she sympathises with voters’ desire for strong management of Australia’s borders, and pledging ’sustainable population’ increase with the ‘right kind of immigrant’.

A similar political convulsion is occurring in Britain. The Conservative Home Secretary, Theresa May, has promised to put a cap on immigration, a pledge that was in the Conservative manifesto but rarely mentioned during the election campaign. 

How long before the Liberals in Canada recognize this as well.