New survey finds migrants born in the UK and Europe have a stronger sense of belonging to Australia than Asian born migrants
The Australian Population Research Institute (TAPRI) completed their sixth annual national survey of Australian voters. It is a major annual survey of around 3,000 people. The Institute is highly respected, and their surveys are regularly reported on.
Most voters do not support a Big Australia
As with previous surveys TAPRI were interested in voters’ views on population questions, especially those concerning the level of immigration. However, this survey was broader in scope.
It was designed to explore Australian voters’ reactions to issues such as cultural change, national identity, and economic redistribution, all issues prominent in Europe and the US.
For the year ending September 2023, net overseas migration (NOM) in Australia reached 549,000, population growth shot up by 660,000 and housing completions are around 174,000. This is around 1 new home per 4 new residents.
Therefore, it was not a surprise that the survey found many voters oppose the current extreme levels of NOM.
“Some 49 per cent of voters wanted much lower levels, or no net increase in immigration at all (this means new arrivals are balanced out by departures).”
“The 49 per cent opposed to high immigration is well up on the 42 percent share who felt this way in TAPRI September 2022 survey.”
The survey also demonstrated that “most voters do not support a Big Australia. A decisive 71 per cent say Australia does not need more people.”
A sense of national belonging to Australia is strongest with migrants born in the UK and Europe
The survey designed questions to assess the different levels of belonging, that migrants from different ethnic backgrounds feel towards Australia (see Table 2 below). In this article I equate a strong sense of belonging to Australia as similar to the survey question, “has a sense of belonging to Australia to a great extent.”
One of the illuminating aspects of the survey is the high share of voters from Europe (59%) that feel a strong sense of national belonging to Australia. And 60% of migrants born in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and North America also feel a strong sense of belonging to Australia.
The survey also discovered there is now significant opposition in Australia, to greater ethnic diversity. The majority of respondents (67%) believe Australia already has enough ethnic and other forms of diversity.
Thirty percent of voters believe Australia needs to encourage national unity and a shared Australian identity.
Overseas born migrants from non-European nations are less likely to feel a strong sense of national belonging to Australia.
Only 42% of Asian-born voters have a strong sense of connection to Australia. This is considerably less than the sense of national belonging found in migrants born in the English-speaking-background (ESB) countries (60%) and European born migrants (59%).
The difference is even larger when comparing migrants born in European and ESB nations to migrants born in the Middle East, Israel and Africa: Only 34% of the non-European born migrants feel a deeper sense of national belonging to Australia.”
The deeper sense of belonging to Australia by migrants born in ESB countries and in Europe (Western, Southern and Eastern Europe), is nearly double that of migrants born in the Middle East, Israel and Africa.
Voting intentions of overseas born migrants by country of origin
Over the past two decades both the Coalition and Labor have overseen a major change in government policies to attract a majority of migrants, predominantly from Asian countries.
As outlined in Table 3 below, the voting intentions of Asian born migrants are much more likely to vote Labor than vote for the Coalition or One Nation
In this context, it’s surprising the Coalition continue to support mass immigration, especially the huge influx of migrants from Asian nations. This survey and other research have shown that Asian migrants are much more likely to vote Labor.
The majority of European born migrants intend to vote for One Nation and the Coalition
In a major new finding. The survey revealed that European born migrants have moved away from some of their former positions in supporting a centre-left political party.
This is emphasised in Table 3, which highlights that voters of European origin (and from ESB countries) are less likely to support Labor or the Greens, and more likely to support the Coalition.
The survey suggests that if the Coalition campaigned on a much lower NOM policy than Labor, this has the potential to lift their voting numbers going into the next Federal election.
However, it may be that Pauline Hanson’s One Nation could be the main beneficiary of votes from migrants born in European and ESB countries.
One Nation have committed to, “extending its zero-net migration policy and focus on permitting only highly skilled migrants from culturally cohesive countries into Australia. Migrants must demonstrate a sound level of English for assimilation purposes.”
Looking at Table 3 shows a significant 15% of migrants born in Europe and in ESB countries intend to vote for One Nation. If we add the Australian born voters to this figure. This amounts to a sizeable 21% of voters intend to vote for One Nation.
The majority of Asian and other non-European born migrants intend to vote Labor.
The difference could not be starker when assessing Asian born migrants voting intentions to European born migrants voting intentions.
Whereas One nation commands a significant proportion of votes from European born migrants. They attract zero votes from Asian born migrants, and a mere 1% of votes from people born in the Middle East, Israel and Africa (see Table 3).
Turning to the Coalition. Table 3 highlights that European born migrants (40%) and ESB born migrants (43%) are more likely to vote for the Coalition, than vote for Labor (30%) and (31%) respectively.
In contrast, a much smaller proportion of Asian born migrants are likely to vote for the Coalition (27%), compared to a strong preference to vote Labor (50%).
Conclusion
The Australia Population Research Institute survey reveals that a significant proportion of European and ESB born migrants feel a strong sense of belonging to Australia. In contrast, a much lower proportion of Asian born, and other non-European born migrants feel a strong sense of belonging to Australia.
The survey demonstrates that One Nation are attracting considerable attention from Australian voters born in European and ESB countries. One Nation have the most European and UK orientated immigration policies. One of their main policies is to permit only highly skilled migrants from culturally cohesive countries into Australia.
One Nation’s zero net overseas immigration policy is also gaining traction. The survey revealed that a significant portion of voters support zero net immigration.