Sir Edmund Barton on immigrants and being an Australian - 1907.

In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an Australian and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an Australian, and nothing but an Australian. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an Australian, but something else also, isn't an Australian at all. We have room for but one flag, the Australian flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the Australian people.

The issue of immigration is a subject that causes great tension and division within the community, and it is certainly an issue that the Australian Sovereignty Party must address as a matter of national sovereignty and social cohesion, but also as a matter justice. Whilst recognising and considering the many legitimate opinions and views concerning migration to Australia, we believe that the following policy position will help strengthen Australia, reduce social/cultural divisions, and generate a greater sense of community spirit and national pride.

One of the chief reasons provided by current governments for the comparatively high quantity of immigrants permitted to live in this nation, is to boost population levels, particularly as the national birth rate is dropping to record low levels. The reasoning behind such an “open door” immigration policy has some merit, but under an ASP stewardship this will no longer be the case as birth rates will certainly increase greatly, particularly as we implement our taxation and economic policies that will financially liberate most working families, providing greater impetus for families to have more children who are the future of Australia.

Without the need to artificially boost our domestic population levels through immigration, the Australian Sovereignty Party believes that we can be more selective concerning who we allow to migrate permanently to Australia, and under what conditions this is permitted. Therefore, it is ASP policy to enforce strict restrictions and standards upon potential immigrants (individuals and families alike), and to significantly reduce our annual intake quantities overall.

Living in Australia is a great privilege that must be earned by intended immigrants, and the burden is upon the applicant to prove that they can contribute in a positive and constructive way to the Australian community, as a demonstration of their sincerity and genuine desire to assimilate and become an Australian.

For an individual adult applicant (or the bread-winner of a family unit), they must demonstrate that they have a trade qualification, or certain other skills that they can employ to positively contribute to the Australian economy. More than that, they must demonstrate that they have pre-emptively and actively applied for job positions in Australia, and have a legitimate and verifiable offer of employment.

Where they are unable to receive a legitimate offer of full-time employment despite their pro-active approach, they must present evidence that they can financially support themselves for a period of at least 5 years (which includes housing, food and bills), whether that be from their own savings, or being fully sponsored by family or friends currently residing in Australia. This provision is upheld regardless of whether or not they have received an offer of employment, as an immigrant wishing to live in Australia must not become a financial burden to the community.

Furthermore, as a provision applying to all family members and individual migrants wishing to live in Australia, they must demonstrate a sound understanding of our history, customs and culture, and must be able to effectively communicate in English, so that they can interact and assimilate with the Australian community without difficulty (grace is given to elderly and or intellectually disabled family members who may find it difficult to learn another language).

Of paramount importance, all immigrants of age must demonstrate that they have a good understanding of Australian law. Not only must all intended migrants understand these laws, but they must pledge to respect, abide by and uphold these laws without deference to their own religious or cultural sensibilities. This last point is not negotiable.

All immigrants must carefully heed that they obey and respect our laws. Where an immigrant has been found by a jury to be guilty of any violent offence, they will be immediately deported, no second chances. Where an immigrant has violated other laws that do not pertain to violence, they will be given strict warnings, and should they continue to flagrantly violate our laws, they will be deported. Where an immigrant is found to be seditiously acting or speaking against Australian law and or our way of life (except where it is determined to be in course of reasonable, legitimate, free and open debate), they will be deported.

Provided all immigrants meet the listed criteria, they will be warmly embraced into the Australian community. Above and beyond these policies, the Australian Sovereignty Party will introduce additional measures designed to reduce or stop the ghetto'isation and isolationism of migrant communities. However, as we enforce the above policy, we expect that the tendency of migrants to live, interact and work exclusively with other people from the same country/ region/ religion will be decreased, as they should not feel the need to be exclusively amongst “their own” since they would have demonstrated the ability and desire to assimilate with the Australian community.

This policy is not to be construed in any way as a rejection or limitation on cultural and or religious diversity, as it is perfectly possible and even desirable for immigrants to enjoy and practise the richness of their unique traditions and culture, except where such traditions or practises violate Australian law both in letter and in spirit, or where such traditions can be reasonably construed to be an open and offensive demonstration of hatred and rejection of the Australian way of life.

The Australian Sovereignty Party believes this policy is fair, just and reasonable, and is necessary to help preserve Australia as a free, united and strong country with a bright and hopeful future we can all look forward to.

Illegal Immigration

As a nation that must reassert its sovereignty and independence, it is important to maintain vigilance over our borders. As noted in our defence policy, the Australian Sovereignty Party will provide a massive boost in funding for our nation's defence forces, including expanding the capability of our naval and air forces.

The best policy to prevent illegal entry into Australia is a policy of deterrence. We must position ourselves such that it becomes known by would-be people smugglers that it is an impossibility to reach Australian shores without detection and detainment. Whilst we acknowledge that there are some genuine refugees desiring to escape terrible conditions, illegal entry into Australia is not acceptable; people must go through the proper channels to apply for residency in Australia if they so wish to live here.

By ensuring that Australia can effectively deter illegal immigrants, many innocent lives that are lost at sea to unscrupulous people smugglers will be avoided. Indeed in reality, it is often safer for displaced people to remain in their country of origin then to place their lives into the hands of greedy smugglers who have little or no regard for the refugee's safety, and where untold thousands have lost their lives in an effort to reach our shores outside of the legal avenues.

It is highly unfortunate that so many people find themselves in such dire straits as to risk their lives and flee to another country. By getting to the root cause of why so many attempt illegal entry into our nation, the very best action that can be taken to remedy this situation is to have a strong and virtuous Australian government under the Australian Sovereignty Party to expose the criminality of the kind of dictatorial, corrupt and abusive regimes that are at the root cause of war, starvation and mass displacement of peoples who then seek illegal entry into other nations.

Instead of having the Australian military fighting unjust wars on behest of other nations/ corporations, it would be better that our military fights for true justice in this world by standing up for the oppressed, and heeding the call of the millions suffering under the heavy hand of oppression and violence.

As for the refugees who are currently detained, we must treat them with dignity as fellow human beings. Every effort must be made as promptly as possible to determine the validity of an illegal refugee's reason for attempting unlawful entry, and as the Australian Sovereignty Party believes it is a universal human right (not just a right for Australian citizens) to be afforded a trial by jury, we would look into the possibility of having elected jury's determine whether or not an illegal immigrant should be offered residency, and on what conditions.