Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kennedy for raising the important issue of migration in this country. The member for Kennedy is in fact a long-term product of that program. We've all come from somewhere else at some point in time in our background, unless we're Indigenous Australians. The member for Kennedy comes from a very proud line himself. We are the most successful migration country in the world. There is no doubt about that, and we're the most successful multicultural country in the world. Migrants have overwhelmingly added to our nation, and do so every single day.

Points are raised around the issue of the employment of migrants in Australia. ABS data of working-age migrants released just last week shows that 68 per cent were employed, up from 65 per cent in the last Characteristics of Recent Migrants Survey. This compares to 65 per cent for those born in Australia. Recent migrants are also getting more skilled, with 69 per cent arriving with tertiary qualifications, up from 65 per cent in the previous survey. One in three small businesses in Australia are managed or owned by migrants and employ hundreds of thousands of people right across Australia.

The great success of Australia's migration story is that it is a story of people who have come to make a contribution to this country, not to take one. That is the success of our migration policy. And our migration policy will continue to be not just an economic pillar of this country but it will continue to be one of the most important social pillars of this country.

No system is perfect, and integrity in migration is important. That's why I commend the Minister for Home Affairs on the outstanding work that he has done to ensure that Australians can have confidence in our migration program, regardless of what stream that migration comes from. And we will remain ever vigilant, I will commit to the member for Kennedy, to ensure that we maintain the integrity of that program—both the integrity of the program and—

Mr Katter interjecting—

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