Australia’s Indian immigration deal & the destruction of the economy

Letters from O'Brien #53

Dear Mr Smith,

In recent years Australia has seen an incredible level of mass immigration. From a global perspective, Australia’s year-on-year growth from 2021 has been unparalleled. The only other nations which have experienced similar levels of population increase are Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland. For years, politicians have tried to justify these loose immigration policies by claiming that it ‘strengthens the economy’, yet recent developments should put this stupid argument to rest.

Over the past decade, three of the primary immigrant groups entering Australia have been Chinese, Indians, and Pakistanis. Initially mass immigration from China was seen as the predominant issue, and there was some truth to this assessment; many Chinese people entering the country are students, who study in Australia, and then pick where to go from there. It was reported that 1 in 3 Chinese students have been utilised by the CCP in some way, usually to spy on other Chinese students who are not Party loyalist, or to report on other happenings in Australia. Beyond students - who are usually individually wealthy, or sponsored by wealthy parents - other Chinese nationals have earned a negative reputation for buying up Australian property. I think these are legitimate issues. Although the property issue conveniently overlooks the role of multinationals such as Blackrock - who buy up far more property than any individual Chinese businessmen - but I still understand the concern. Likewise, the ideological ordeal is another issue; Chinese people may be nationalistic and ‘traditional’, but they are nationalistic and traditional for their country, not Australia, and this is a serious issue.

In contrast, before the 21^st century, immigrants from Asia and the Middle East were limited in numbers, and those that did immigrate usually integrated or assimilated into Australian culture. For example, many Lebanese came to live in Australia following Middle Eastern conflicts in the 1970s. Likewise, after the Korean War and Vietnam War, many East Asians came to live in Australia. These people - usually escaping communism - became business owners, tradesmen, and generally respected members of the community. Integration due largely to social expectation; if you move to Australia, you are here to become an Australian citizen and a functioning member of the one culture/society. Today there is no such social expectation, and such conformity to a homogeneous society is actually frowned upon as racist.

INDIAN IMMIGRATION DEAL

Today there is another pressing issue which is hardly talked about, and that is immigration from India, thanks to deals made between the Indian and Australian government to ‘improve the economy’. As expected, these deals are doing the exact opposite.

Over the past few years, Australia has attempted to strengthen ties with India through various methods. Arguably the most impactful has been through the adoption of several migration deals in 2023. Under the guise of strengthening the economy, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese partnered with Indian prime minister Modi to adopt a new migration deal aimed at “promoting the two-way mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers, and business people”. Talks of new mining agreements were also mentioned. For context, India has been eyeing off Australian natural resources for years.

In practice, these deals are almost certainly acting as a detriment to the economy, not a benefit. The first and most immediate issue is that of pure numbers. As part of the deal, Indians will be able to move to Australia for up to 8 years without a visa, so long as they are enrolled in an Australian tertiary institution. These people must live somewhere, and Australia has been suffering from a housing crisis for upwards of a decade. The result is even more pressure on the housing market, increased purchasing prices, and an increase in median rent.

But the other big issue is that of job qualifications. In 2023, the Australian government also moved to adopt a mutual recognition for the qualification of Indian immigrants. This means that the methods of qualification for - let’s say - carpentry in India are translated directly into the equivalent qualification in Australia. In the past there was no such thing; Indians who have lived in Australia for decades will know that retraining under the national method was necessary to secure a job. Since this is basically being done away with, several serious issues arise.

By far the biggest issue is the disparity in training. Realistically there is no telling how qualifications are received in India, or at least it is not clear until they are on the job site. Now a large part of the Australian workforce is comprised of trade jobs. Tradesmen usually have a long training process. After getting out of school, most will either go to TAFE, or find another method of entering an apprenticeship. An apprentice will usually train for several years, and during this period his wage will match his apprentice level. Once one has been trained into a fully competent tradesman, he can earn more on the job site, or even start his own business with his qualifications. There is clearly a legitimacy here; qualification is directly tied to real world experience - years of it - and a rigorous, tested system which prioritises working knowledge, safety, and quality.

It is now being reported - as one may find on sites such as Reddit or Facebook - that tradesmen from India are being bought over to fill certain roles. I have seen testimonies circling online from Australian tradesmen about this ordeal. Due to this mutual recognition deal, Indian tradesmen - who are almost always listed as ‘qualified’ - must legally be paid the wage of a fully qualified Australian tradesman. This is not a small amount, but the assumption is that a fully qualified tradesman with his team, and his apprentices, will be able to produce something of quality, safety, etc. This is a big deal, as this means an immigrant tradesman will be better paid than the apprentices on the job site. The reasons this is a serious issue is because, according to these testimonies, these ‘qualified’ tradesmen do not even understand the most basic elements of their claimed expertise. In one testimony from Reddit, a tradesman claimed there was top-down pressure on the company he works for to employ these immigrants, yet on the job site the immigrants were Googling how to operate equipment or do certain tasks while in the middle of a job. This implies that unlike Australian tradesmen who must train for years before receiving qualifications, Indians must do something so quick and easy that it leaves them without even knowing the basics. Now obviously I cannot testify as to whether these online reports are true, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise.

This is a safety nightmare, not to mention a serious kick in the face to the Australian apprentices who must train for years to earn the same amount of money. Now it is possible that India has deliberately set up a quick and easy qualification process which is validated on the Australian end… India’s rhetoric in recent months indicates they wish to use their foreign diaspora to advance their economic, political, and social interests abroad. A March issue of The Economist detailed how in 2015 Modi and his party (MJP) saw the Indian diaspora abroad as a utility “the way the Jewish community looks out for Israel’s interests in the United States”. The article also highlights how Modi’s goal since 2014 has been to use their international diaspora to “advance ‘Brand India’” abroad. Ironically, I noticed that on Twitter the MJP party has been pushed by certain commentators on the so-called neoreactionary right, a right-wing Straussian movement which is almost certainly astroturfed. From what I could gather, the logic held is that the MJP ‘is based’ because it stands against radical Islam and its spread.

In Australia there have been two main avenues for employment. After school some would go to university, others would pursue a trade. Those in university would usually work service jobs and such (flipping burgers at McDonald’s, etc). These medium or low paying jobs have historically been the way that high schoolers and uni students either save money at home or pay for rent. These jobs are increasingly being taken up by immigrants, as you would expect. Those pursuing a trade would go to TAFE or find their way into an apprenticeship. As mentioned, apprenticeships usually take several years to fully train someone into a competent tradesman. Now, poorly trained Indian employees are filling these jobs. I can only imagine that the reason for this is economic racketeering - much in the manner of the ESG system - as I can’t imagine any company would be willing to pay a full wage to someone who can’t even do the job unless they have been coerced. I would like to look deeper into this to find out why employment of this kind is occurring, but if my suspicions are correct, it is likely due to an ESG-like incentivisation system.

OUTCOMES OF IMMIGRATION DEALS

In both above cases, the result is the same; less jobs for Australian citizens, meaning less income, less incentive to create, sell, or spend, and ultimately a worsening of the economy. Remember that the original goal of this endeavour was to improve the economy. What Australians now have is a crumbling middle and lower class, whilst the countries primary source of wealth - its natural resources - are slowly encroached by India and China.

Beyond pure economics, these migration plans also reshape society. There are the obvious issues; a lack of proper integration, leading to lowered social cohesion and trust. Then there are other problems. Australians - particularly the youth - must now compete against a constant stream of immigrants to secure basic housing. For a long time, Australia has struggled with a poor housing market - arguably one of the worst in the world - but never has it been so bad as it is right now. Like I said at the start, I don’t think it is correct to blame this solely on immigration, as the prevailing issue for years has been connected to Blackrock, which has purchased massive amounts of property as soon as it hits the market. However, an increased population hasn’t helped, as it puts much more strain on the already manipulated market. As a result, housing in Australia is absurdly expensive, with the median housing price in Sydney being reported at $1.2-1.4 million in recent years.

Further on the social front is the issue of integration. Just like China in the 1990s, India’s government seeks to use its massive population to propel the nation towards a first world standard. While there is nothing wrong with this, it does mean that India is incentivised to promote a sense of national loyalty when they send people abroad. This can have negative effects economically and socially. For example, it is not uncommon for Indians in the west to choose to employ other Indians over westerners due to a shared national and cultural loyalty. It is also the case that westerners have willingly outsourced many jobs to Indian contractors in a bid to lower costs. This has had further negative effects both socially and economically on Australians.

To see the long term social and economic effects of this type of thinking, one should look no further than China. In the 1980s, China - like India today - was willing to produce goods at prices below anyone else. Looser laws and restrictions meant more could get done for less, and faster. By the early 2000s, quality control had considerably improved, and today we see China producing ‘quality goods’ for the West (which cannot keep up). Throughout these decades, Chinese were encouraged to engage in international trade, while retaining a sense of nationalism for China. Today China runs entire industries which the world relies on and given the rapid alleviation of their population into first-world wealth, the increased quality, and the unmatched scale of production, they are now willing to demand more, while also outsourcing their own cheap labour to places like Nigeria. In much the same way, outsourcing to India will come at a price in the long run, and I imagine this price will be the ability to take these jobs back once they begin to demand more.

To tie this together, the blame cannot be placed on Indian immigrants themselves. After all, I believe that none of this would be happening if it were not for the foreign control of the West. Most western leaders are fundamentally oppositional to their own people. This is unique, and as far as I’m aware there are no other places on earth (outside of the West) who actively counter-signal their own best interests, and seek to undermine the wellbeing of their own populations. Make no mistake, this is being allowed to happen, and I have little faith in the claim that it is to do with ‘greedy corporations’ seeking to increase profit. No, I believe this is a war tactic against the West, being orchestrated from enemies within.

The only way to fix this is by addressing the internal problems; leadership, foreign influence, anti-western sentiment, and so forth. There is currently a rise in ‘race realist’ sentiment, which seeks to advance the idea that races are biologically predetermined to act in particular ways. However, these race ideas - true or not - are almost certainly being astroturfed at the moment, since they place the blame on immigrants rather than on those who advocated for the borders to be opened. I may do another letter exploring this, because I am seeing more and more people call for foreigners to leave, yet they act as if these people are being allowed in for no reason at all, conveniently ignoring the fact that there are powerful internal forces pushing for migration to destroy the West. The focus must be on the core issues; who is allowing immigrants in? Why are they allowing them in? Who benefits from it? Why would anyone want to destroy the west? Who wants to destroy the west? Once one begins to ask these questions, he will quickly meet resistance from both the left and right, and this, paradoxically, is a sign that he is heading in the right direction…

Yours

O’Brien