Alex Hutton wrote:
The problem with immigration into Australia is Australia is a welfare state.
In a welfare state, wealth is redistributed. This is only possible if more money is put in than is taken out. More must be put in than is taken out, rather than an equivalent amount, because the welfare state is intrinsically inefficient; so it must take from us more than it gives to us. In order to survive, the welfare state must ensure that it can continue to operate in this way. The extreme Libertarian, right-wing anarchist, small government position; would seem to be that not only social services but the judicial system ,police and the armed services should be privatised and taxes eliminated. So surely antagonism to 'welfare' needs to be placed on the continuum between this and an extreme left-wing Marxist / socialist position. In a real political system like the US; which is not purely one or the other; citizen's taxes for example pay something like $US100K per year per prisoner; but it is quite possible that increasing unemployment benefits would reduce the total number of prisoners with a nett decrease in the cost to the taxpayer; making the welfare solution more, rather than less 'efficient' ; regards Rohan McLeod