Australia politics live: John Howard warns about limiting immigration; Barnaby Joyce says super plan to have ‘minute’ inflationary effect

Former Prime Minister John Howard has cautioned political parties against imposing restrictions on immigration from specific nations as the discussion surrounding Australia's immigration policies persists. The 87-year-old made these remarks during a one-hour conversation with Australian National University national security professor Rory Medcalf, which took place in Canberra. The event coincided with the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Howard expressed his belief that the prevailing sentiment was strongly in favor of taking all necessary measures to prevent terrorism from infiltrating through the immigration system. He emphasized that it is not feasible to achieve this goal by simply limiting immigration altogether, nor could it be accomplished by banning certain categories of migrants.

Howard questioned the feasibility of a policy that would prohibit immigration from any country with a history of terrorism. He argued that such a measure would likely be far more restrictive than those advocating for it might anticipate. Howard did not claim that the impact of such a policy would be negligible, but he suggested that its effect would be incredibly minimal.