Bob Katter is right immigrationischanging Australia andit'skeeping our clinics, businessesand small towns alive, writesVince Hooper.

BOB KATTER,the wide-brimmed-hat-wearing, banana-farming, crocodile-wrestling oracle of rural Queensland, has once again blessed the nation with his thoughts on immigration.

And hes right. Not in the sense that demographers, economists, or people with working internet connections would agree but right in the way a pub philosopher is right after three schooners and a yarn about how the moon landing was faked.

Katters vision is simple: keep Australia for thereal Australians. Which, in his mind, means Akubra-wearing stockmen who can whistleWaltzing Matildain their sleep. But heres the problem: there are fewer real Australians than there are flat whites in Melbourne. Everyones family came from somewhere else Irish convicts, Greek fishermen, Italian bricklayers, Lebanese bakers. Even Katters ownfamilytree has roots stretching beyond the cane fields. If immigration were really the threat he claims, he might have to deport himself.

Media outlets have been called out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for inflating their data ahead of anti-immigration 'March for Australia' rallies.

And then theres the economic reality. While Katter rails against foreign workers, his electorate depends on them. Whos picking the mangoes inMareeba, gutting the cattle in abattoirs, or staffing the local hospital? Not the grandsons of squatters theyre off in Brisbane doing law degrees. Without migrant labour, North Queenslands economy would collapse faster than Katters hat in a cyclone.

Of course, the irony doesnt stop there. The Akubra on Katters head? Inspired by American cowboy hats. The cattlebreedson his properties? Imported from Britain. The guitar he strums? Made in Mexico. Even theXXXXbeer he defends against latte-sipping southerners was first brewed by German immigrants. Pure Australia turns out to be about as authentic as akebabafter midnight which, by the way, we also owe to immigrants.

And lets not forget climate change. While Katter tells us to brace for a flood of unwanted migrants, the real flood is already on the way literally. As Pacific Islandssinkand northern Australiadrowns, the boats wont be bringing asylum seekers; theyll be carrying his own constituents, rowing toward higher ground with nothing but an Akubra for shade. One wonders if Katter will demand they pass a fair dinkum citizenship test involving crocodile wrestling and naming threeSlim Dustysongs before letting them into Toowoomba.

Then theres the great cultural divide. Katter paints inner-city voters as sipping soy lattes in cafs staffed by foreigners, while he imagines his voters surviving on XXXX andwitchetty grubs. In reality, its the very migrants hewarnsus about who are running the GP clinics in Mount Isa, stocking shelves in Charters Towers, and keeping the servo open on the road to Cairns. Without immigration, Katters Queensland dream would be lessCrocodile Dundee, moreMad Maxscorched earth and no servo pies.

So yes, Bob Katter is right. Immigrationischanging Australia. It gave us garlic sauce that could solve world peace, sushi rolls that made lunchboxes edible, andbaristaswho turned coffee from billy tea into an art form. It filled our schools, our hospitals, and our small towns. It gave Katter a villain to rail against at rallies, and us the cultural diversity that makes his rants sound as quaint as a VHS tape.

If Katter had his way, wed still be gnawing on overcookedmuttonand pretending to like it. Instead, thanks to immigration, were spoiled with biryani, laksa, and hummus and well eat them while Katter rants, because the only thing hungrier than his speeches is the rest of us.

Vince Hooperis a proud Australian/British citizen and professor of finance and discipline head at SP Jain School of Global Management with campuses in London, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney.

Related Articles

• Conservative capitalism: a strange way to remain the same
• What if the Independents hold the balance of power?