Nationals Leader Draws on 1950s Policies in Migration Debate

Matt Canavan recalled the hurdles his grandparents needed to overcome before obtaining citizenship, saying that approach should be reinstated.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan during Senate Estimates at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Oct. 8, 2025. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

As migration continues to dominate political debate in Australia, Nationals Leader Matt Canavan has shared a story from his family history that he believes offers a model for a modern approach.

The Queensland politician believes new migrants are not undergoing sufficiently rigorous checks, and that combining traditional methods with modern technology would make Australia safer.

“When my Italian grandparents arrived here in the 1950s, they had to go through the wringer to be naturalised,” Canavan said on social media.

“They needed references from their employers and people of stature in the community, letters from local police constables, evidence that they were financially independent and that they had secure lodgings.”

Canavan shared a letter from his grandparents’ original application to come to Australia, which he said ran into hundreds of pages.

The letter was signed by the Inspector of Police in Townsville, and vouched for the couple’s good natures.

“The Inspector of Police in Townsville wrote about my nonno [grandfather], Gaetano Zanella: ’the applicant has a very good knowledge of the English language, and would experience no difficulty in working amongst and understanding English-speaking people ... he fully understands the rights and privileges of Australian citizenship',” Canavan said.

“If we could do it in the 1950s, why can’t we do it today? Now, with AI and social media, we should be able to get a pretty good idea about whether an applicant shares our way of life.

“Becoming an Australian should be the most exclusive club you can belong to. It should be tough to get in, and when you are in, we protect you like a mate.”

Canavan’s comments came after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor’s launched Liberals’ new immigration policy, which includes the development of a centralised taskforce to align various agencies, more focus on social media checks and making a pledge to Australian values legally binding for new citizens.

The Opposition has also proposed requiring permanent visa holders to learn English and restricting their access to taxpayer-funded initiatives, including the five percent housing deposit scheme, arguing such benefits should be reserved for citizens.

Labor Questions Liberal Policies

Despite the Opposition and One Nation consistently campaigning for more stringent immigration measures, the Labor government has so far rejected these proposals.

“When you look at the different issues that they’ve raised, I still can’t work out what the gap they’re wanting to describe is between the powers that an immigration minister already has, the powers that I already have under the Migration Act and what they’re wanting to add in terms of the character test,” Immigration Minister Tony Burke told reporters.

“I still want them to provide the example of the person who we can’t currently cancel or refuse a visa to, who they want us to be able to.

“And Mr. Taylor’s been asked a couple of times to provide this exact example and hasn’t, simply because what they are wanting is a discussion and a meme. There is no policy attached to what they’ve announced.”

Burke described the Liberal National Coalition’s policy as a “jumps for votes,” while questioning its stricter English requirements for immigrants.

“In terms of English language, I think he [Taylor] underestimates the extent to which people, when they come to Australia, attend English language courses, do everything they can to improve their English and are proud as they improve their English,” he said.

“The other thing that he said that has really puzzled me, is this presumption that somehow, if you come from a country that is a liberal democracy, you are a more worthy Australian.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the year ending June 30, 2025, overseas migration contributed a net gain of 306,000 people to Australia’s population.

This was a decrease from the net gain of 429,000 people in the previous year, and below the record of 538,000 people in 2022-23.

Historically, more people have migrated to Australia than departed each year, meaning overseas migration has been a major source of population growth.