ELECTION 2010: Gillard wins the debate, but immigration fight continues to divide electorate

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has started week two of the election campaign by focussing on health, announcing her Government would fund an extra 2,000 emergency department nurses, 1,000 more student nurse training places and 270 additional emergency doctors over 10 years.

However, Gillard’s announcement has largely been overshadowed by the result of last night’s leaders’ debate, which most pundits have scored in the Prime Minister’s favour.

But while the dissecting of the debate continues, one argument that shows no sign of abating any time soon concerns the controversial topic of immigration.

Over the weekend, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott announced his party would support a cap on immigration, with Abbott promising to keep Australia’s annual intake to 170,000, down from a peak of 300,000 two years ago.

“What we are planning to do is to get our immigration levels to those which we believe are economically, environmentally, and politically, if you like, sustainable,” Abbott told reporters.

“We need an immigration program which can be supported for the long-term by the Australian people. If we want to be a cohesive, prosperous society, we need strong, popular support for the immigration program, and that’s what this policy is designed to achieve.”

Abbott says skilled migration and visas for temporary workers will be quarantined from the cuts, with many of the cuts related to making it more difficult for those on student visas to gain citizenship.

But sections of the business community have been angered by Abbott’s stance, claiming strong immigration is essential for Australia’s economic growth and particularly for meeting skills shortages.

The Business Council of Australia’s Katie Lahey has attacked “short-term” thinking on immigration and says the debate has descended into “populist rhetoric”.

“We need continued, sustainable growth to ensure our children inherit a strong economy and the opportunities that offers for fulfilling jobs, global engagement and well-funded services for our communities.”

“Growth will offset the effects of Australia’s ageing population and ensure that governments have the revenue they need to pay for health care, education, infrastructure and environmental initiatives.”

Representatives from Australia’s already struggling export education sector have also panned Abbott’s plan and warned it will have a devastating impact on Australia’s fourth biggest sector.

Labor has also lashed out at Abbott’s plan and has accused the Opposition leader of pulling a “sneaky trick” given immigration projections suggest that the annual intake will fall to 175,000 in 2010-11 and 145,000 in 2011-12.

The latest option polls suggest Labor’s lead over the Coalition is starting to narrow.

The latest election survey from Newspoll showed Labor’s lead over the Coalition has slipped three percentage points on a two-party-preferred basis. Newspoll says Labor has 52% of the vote, while the Coalition has 48%.

The latest Galaxy poll also shows Labor with a 52% to 48% lead.

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