Elections and immigrants

This week, we go to Australia, where Prime Minister Julia Gillard's popularity is falling, and to Britain, where relaxed immigration laws have some people worried.

Australian rules

With elections planned for 21 August, the country’s first female prime minister is worried. Julia Gillard’s popularity is falling and support for her Labor Party is weaker than it has been for years. The Financial Times writes that the Labor government could become the first since 1931 not to win a second term.

… Labor is polling especially weakly in [former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s] home state of Queensland, whose sizeable mining communities were already smarting over the introduction of a super-tax on resource profits which they fear will hurt investment and employment. … Labor’s record in office has been sound. Relations with China, at times bumpy, have improved. Spending on health and medical research is higher. But these issues have yet to take centre stage in the campaign. …

Student influx

Nearly 1,000 foreign students and their families are entering Britain daily, according to The Daily Telegraph. This is worrying, says the newspaper, because too many students are using the country’s liberal immigration policies to enter the country illegally.

… The Tories had a clear policy to fix a cap on immigration, but that is looking worryingly flexible under the Coalition – witness David Cameron's promise to consult India before implementing it. [Immigration Minister Damian Green] must make clear that while this country will always welcome genuine students and those with the skills we need, the Government will be relentless in stopping those who try to play the system.