The thing is, yes, the Howard government increased legal immigration into Australia while cutting illegal immigration dramatically.
Australia is not the United States. We're a low population country on the edge of overcrowded Asia.
Since the 1940s, when we faced invasion from Asia, and had little hope of defending ourselves, one of the common mantras in Australia has been 'populate or perish'.
We still have a low population with an entire continent as our disposal.
Australia has generally welcomed immigrants who are of value to our country. Howard did that.
Maybe that would be a bad choice for America - where you also have a massive illegal immigration problem, because you have land borders that are much harder to secure.
But it doesn't make it a bad idea for everybody else.
I’m in Canada.
Empty or not, immigration is killing us. Has been for decades. None of the “conservatives” have ever touched it.
In fact, Mulroney doubled immigration from Pierre Trudeau levels.
We are in a massive house price bubble and rental shortage. The housing bubble is almost as extreme as Australia (and Vancouver is probably the worst in the entire world).
The first politician to talk about limiting immigration is Justin “freaking” Trudeau, not the “Conservatives”.