Federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has moved to reassure migrant communities following weeks of heightened debate around immigration, saying she values “incredibly every migrant community that comes to this country” while criticising the government’s handling of infrastructure and planning.
Speaking on SBS Mandarin on 8 September, Ley described Senator Jacinta Price’s earlier remarks about Indian migrants as “wrong” and “hurtful”. She said: “The remarks were received by the Indian community as hurtful and harmful. They expressed that to me, and they expressed that to many of my colleagues. I know that Senator Price understands this hurt and this harm and has stepped back those remarks, retracted them, and has made it clear they were never meant to be received in such a manner.”
She stressed her own position was unambiguous. “I want to make it abundantly clear that we value incredibly every migrant community that comes to this country. Because they’ve chosen to come here, and the contribution they make makes Australia a better place and brings value and livelihoods and happiness.”
Ley acknowledged that the Chinese community had also been unsettled by earlier comments from within her party. “I regret the way those comments were heard, and I acknowledge the distress and hurt that was experienced by many in the Chinese community… my very strong wish is to build a very constructive, positive, forward looking relationship with the Chinese community,” she said.
On migration levels, Ley pointed to practical concerns. “Wherever I’ve gone in Australia since becoming leader… people have talked about these infrastructure pressures, pressures on the roads, pressures on the commute to work and back, pressures on housing, on jobs, on services, on hospitals. This is a big failing of the government when it comes to infrastructure. It is not a failing of migrants or any individual migrant community.”
She argued that Labor had announced headline migration numbers without explaining the balance of categories or the impact on housing and services. “Every number they’ve provided has been completely wrong over the last three years… what I’m calling out is the failure of this government to deliver the infrastructure that Australians, including Australians from migrant communities, deserve.”
Despite her criticism of the government, Ley underlined that immigration was central to national identity. “Any display of protest which relates to any migrant or migrant community is wrong and mistaken, and it’s not who we are as Australians, because who we are as Australians are a country that warmly accepts migrants from every corner of the world. This is the Australian identity. This is the Australian spirit. It includes migration. It values migration, it rewards migration, and it knows that migration is good for the country, the economy and its future.”
Her comments come after weeks of tension following anti-immigration rallies, attacks on Indigenous and multicultural groups, and controversy over remarks within her own party. Ley’s insistence that migrants are central to the nation’s future is a reminder of the balancing act her party faces: addressing voter concerns about housing and infrastructure without alienating communities who now form decisive majorities in key electorates.
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