THE right-wing Australia First Party says immigration in Australia must be reviewed, but has stopped short of calling for 300 Syrian refugees in Wagga to be halted.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wagga leaders are resolute the city will still accept the refugees, even though one of the terrorists involved in the Paris attacks used his refugee status to gain entry into the country.
Leaders, including the mayor and federal MP, have appealed for acceptance, but their message has been met with concern.
An Advertiser online poll revealed more than two thirds of readers wanted the government to hit pause on the arrival of Syrian refugees.
Others have spoken out on social media about their fears for radicalised people entering the community.
Careful to distance herself from anti-Islamic groups, Australia First Party’s Lorraine Sharp said the “broader issue” of immigration must be looked at.
Ms Sharp, a former candidate for the seat of Riverina, believed Wagga must seek to solve its own social problems before welcoming newcomers.
“The reality is we don’t have the infrastructure,” she said. “We’ve got a myriad of social catastrophes ourselves going on … the drug ice … there’s 100,000 of our own people homeless.”
Kerr says community worried
On Monday, Wagga RSL sub-branch president Kevin Kerr said he was concerned about a clustering of one particular ethnic group.
“One of the things we need to be careful of is getting too many of a particular area (ethnicity),” he said.
“Will it upset the equilibrium of our community?
“This multiculturalism doesn’t seem to encourage people to integrate. A lot of people are worried about that.”
He said terrorist attacks repeatedly linked to radicalised Muslims was making people nervous about large numbers of the Islamic faith moving into the region.
“That seems to be what I am hearing,” Mr Kerr said.
“Naturally enough, there is a lot of concern.”
Mayor acknowledges community ‘angst’
Responding to community pushback, Wagga mayor Rod Kendall guaranteed the city would only receive genuine refugees.
“I understand community angst, but I think the angst is directed at making sure the refugees are genuine refugees that are fleeing persecution, fleeing from terrorism,” he said.
“I have absolute confidence in the (screening) system … I have absolute confidence that every one of those refugees will be genuine.”
