One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has committed to banning migration into Australia from radical Islamic countries, while also pledging to ban the burqa should she win government.
Hanson made the comments during an episode of The Tommy Robinson Podcast released on July 17.
In it, Hanson discusses her rise to political prominence in Australia and her ongoing concerns about current migration policy.
Referring back to Australia’s early migrant past, Hanson said most migrants made an effort to integrate into Australian culture.
“A lot of them couldn’t speak English but they learned to speak English,” she said.
“These people that came in really assimilated, they’re Aussies, they love the country, they appreciate the country and what it’s done for them.
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“But over the decades … a lot of people are coming to Australia purely for the welfare system or to get on our [National Disability Insurance Scheme] NDIS.”
Hanson said that with around 800,000 people on the NDIS with an annual price tag close to $50 billion, the system was being abused.
“A lot of them who are ripping the system off are from the Muslim areas and they’re getting on the scheme,” she claimed.
“But there’s a lot of Aussies too, other Aussies, so I’m not just going to pick [Muslims] out, but it is quite known in the Muslim streets you’ve got quite a lot in that street that are on the NDIS scheme but a lot of people will do it and they’re ripping off the system.”
Hanson also noted concerns about the use of Sharia law in Australia, which allows polygamy.
“I‘ll stop people coming in from radical Islamic countries and I’ll ban the burqa so that is a deterrent for them wanting to come out here if they’re of that mindset to control the women,” Hanson pledged.
In turn, Robinson spoke about U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to restrict migration from countries like Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, amid security concerns.
“If we [the UK] had that, we would never have had 26 people blown up at the Ariana Grande concert just off that one ban,” he said.
“There would be an extra 225 Europeans alive today just off that ban.
“That ban, which wouldn’t be allowed in (the UK) because it would be ‘racist.’”
Hanson told Robinson that Muslims comprised around 4 percent of Australia’s total population, but suspected the number could be higher with the upcoming Census.
“They are having children because in the Quran it says Allah will provide, well the ‘Allah’ providing is the taxpayer, but guess what? I’ve had enough,” she said.
Hanson told Robinson the government has relied on migration to prop up the economy, an area she wants to address by cutting regulation and lowering power prices by building more energy generation.
Pro-migration bodies, however, argue migration is essential to Australia.
“Despite the current heightened debate about migration, industry is still facing labour shortages and Australia desperately needs skilled workers,” said Migration Institute of Australia CEO Peter van Vliet in a statement.
“Australians are also waiting up to two years for their partner visas to be processed for their loved ones.”
Van Vliet said skilled migrants drive the nation’s economy.
“They help put food on our table and deliver the healthcare, construction and technology workforce that our ageing population desperately needs.”
