New Paths to an Open Australia - Lindsay Tanner, MP

30 July 2008
Excerpt from speech of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Redmond Barry Lecture

A decade ago I wrote a book in which I argued that all the major debates about Australia’s future could be understood by reference to one simple question: is Australia to be an open or closed society?

This question still runs through most policy debates in Australia. And it connects them with each other. Those who support open markets but not open migration, or open trade but not open government, struggle for coherence...

I want to talk tonight about a community with whom I have a strong local connection: the African-Australian community. Their story is emblematic of both past successes and future challenges of an open Australia...

An open Australia must be truly open. Open to people of all backgrounds. The strength and vitality of our society comes from this openness.

Our nation won’t be socially and culturally open unless we embrace African-Australian migrants in the same way we’ve previously embraced people from southern Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. We have to make an effort, not just sit back and allow them to sink or swim. If we do, the rewards for all of us will be overwhelming.

Read it all, if you can stomach it. Tanner has swallowed the full liberal global-village open-borders prostration mantra. He will not preserve anything distinct about Australia. He cares not about the aesthetics of racial compatibility, nor the predominance of our culture and religion, nor about our borders. All he cares about is an ideology: non-discrimination as the highest principle. Kevin Andrews spoke frankly of the problem of black violence. Lindsay Tanner cannot breach his highest principle, and so lives in denial. He is an Eloi who would rather die than speak honestly about black crime.

"Those who support open markets but not open migration, or open trade but not open government, struggle for coherence." Yes, coherence can only come from that high note of non-discrimination. Once you hit that note, everything becomes clear, all problems are solved. Non-discrimination is nirvana. Tanner is a dangerous man, disconnected from the feelings of the ordinary man.