IMMIGRANTS who “don’t mix with Australians” should be “put on the boat” and sent home, according to Mature Australia Party candidate Trevor O’Brien.
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While the election is now done and dusted, Mr O’Brien said it was still something he believed in.
He said he believed immigrants should be given a five year temporary visa.
“If they fit into the community - which most of them do, they don't have any problem,” Mr O’Brien said.
“I see that because we've got an area here where they're coming in, they're mixing completely with everybody.
“But you go to the city and they're mixing in one little area at a time and I don’t like that because they're not mixing with the Australians.
“They come in, they do the right thing, they stay, but if not put them on the boat and send them home.”
He made the comments ahead of the election at the Griffith Business Chamber’s meet the candidates forum on Thursday night at the Griffith Leagues Club.
Mr O’Brien was responding to a question from audience member Veronica Collins. She asked Australian Liberty Alliance candidate Ron Pike how he could claim to represent the whole Farrer community given his comments about Indigenous Australians. Mr Pike said he believed there was no community in Australia which he was aware of that was a better example of accepting people from all corners of the world.
“It’s the best example I know in Australia and I can’t think of any reason why that should not continue,” Mr Pike said. “What I did question about our general immigation intake is that when you have one-and-a-half-million people in Australia unemployed I question why we are bringing another 4000 people a week into the country - I do think we need to pause that a little bit and we need to get our people back to work before we open the gates again.”
Mr Pike told The Area News programs that treated Aboriginal people differently to other Australians was “reverse apartheid”.
“Governments trying to divide us by race are doing a disservice to future of Australia,” Mr Pike said.
“Regardless of background, regardless of ideology, regardless of how long your forebears have lived in this country, every single person born in Australia is an equal indigenous citizen of this country.
“Everyone should be subject to same laws, the same conditions, the same rights and the same opportunity to share in wealth, end of story.”
Ms Collins slammed Mr Pike’s comments.
She said she felt a need to stand up against a party that would “destroy my culture, my land and my people” and so she began actively campaigning for Greens candidate Amanda Cohn, the first time she had ever engaged in politics.
“People like Ron Pike and his party are ignorant and have no empathy for our country or people.”