Brave Hastie makes a stand for our core values. By Peta Credlin in The Australian.
At one level, Andrew Hastie’s resignation from the opposition frontbench opens up a struggle for the soul of the Liberal Party. At a deeper level, though, it’s really a struggle for the soul of Australia, because if we continue on the present policy trajectory we will soon be a very different country.
Far from being some sort of populist “Trumpian outbreak”, Hastie’s eagerness to rethink mass migration and multiculturalism (and ditch net zero) is more a return to the old Howard formula of “economic liberalism and social conservatism”; the only formula, I might add, that has delivered landslide Liberal wins under him and, later, under Tony Abbott. …
The big migration lie is cover provided by the paid “experts”:
For years, the Treasury line to government ministers (on both sides of politics) has been that immigration boosts economic growth, and therefore the tax take [not after welfare], so any reduction in immigration must be accompanied by politically difficult spending cuts.
But while immigration boosts overall economic growth, it doesn’t necessarily boost growth per capita, and it enables lazy governments to mask their inability to lift productivity.
Special interests:
Given all the players that feed off the migrant intake — the universities and colleges with overseas students as their business model and enterprises seeking cheap labour — only the very determined can take them on.
Add in the community leaders eager to encourage chain migration to give their enclaves more clout with local MPs, especially those who’ve used local ethnic leaders to boost their factional numbers, and there’s the explanation for the bipartisan cone of silence.
Eager to shut down the obvious:
All of these powerful and vocal lobbies have a vested interest in shutting down debate: even though sustained record migration is undeniably pushing down wages because it’s boosting supply, pushing up housing costs because it’s boosting demand, and putting immense strain on physical and social infrastructure because it’s boosting usage. …
Enter Andrew Hastie:
It’s way past time for a serious national figure from within one of the parties of government to call for this to be re-examined. Yet Hastie’s reward for wanting a fundamental rethink of Coalition policy (despite the hollow words of the leader who says she wants all policies reviewed) was to have his portfolio gutted and then be white-anted by colleagues adept at leaks but little else that involves the intellectual hard yards needed to get out of opposition.
The difference between Hastie and most of his colleagues is that he is a believer in a certain sort of Australia: one that is open and welcoming, sure, but also one that is recognisably the country he was willing to die to defend.
Let that sink in before you question his motivations.
As a university student, he was so moved by the Islamist attacks on 9/11 that he changed the direction of his life to become a soldier for our country: first in the regular army, then in the SAS, and now in the parliament. …
And yes, he appreciates that pushing against several decades of leftist indoctrination won’t be easy; but soldier that he is, he’d rather fight the good fight than die wondering …
Radical Islamism is the challenge of our times:
The multiculturalism that pervades official thinking is an abandonment of the Anglo-Celtic core culture and the Judeo-Christian ethos that have made our country great – and, indeed, are what have made it so attractive to migrants.
Hastie gets, in a way that few of the careerists who now fill the Liberal ranks do, that a growing Muslim population unable to leave their hatreds behind are a challenge to the character of our society – not because Muslims are inherently bad people but because their religion is very hard to reconcile with the pluralism and individualism that have long been at the heart of the West.
I can’t put it any plainer than this. Radical Islamism is the challenge of our times, and we need to be upfront about that if we are to have any chance of ensuring that Australia stays peaceful and cohesive. Other countries have missed opportunities to deal with this issue and may have saddled themselves with social problems that are close to insoluble. We still have a small window of time to learn from their mistakes; and most critically, their denial of what was happening and their silencing of anyone speaking out.
If Muslims are to be good citizens in a country like Australia, they must face up to the evil that has been done in the name of their faith — in the same way, I suppose, that Catholics like me have had to face up to and disown the epidemic of clerical sex abuse. …
The difference between Hastie and many of his so-called moderate colleagues is that he has the honesty to admit this and the guts to have a debate about it before we sleepwalk into disaster.
Brave. Leaders are brave.