11 pieces
Immigration & Islamism
Who is coming, from where, and how they are checked. Islamist terrorism and its links to the migration and humanitarian programs, and how far Australia has followed Europe and the United States in changing course.
New Immigration & IslamismIslamist terrorism in Australia: what the record shows, and what vetting missed20 killed in Islamist attacks since 2014, 15 at Bondi. Five of eight attackers were born overseas, but only two arrived as adults. Most failures came after arrival.New Immigration & IslamismWho is coming to Australia, from where, and how they are checkedNet migration peaked at 538,300 under Labor. About 11% of permanent places and 7 in 10 offshore refugee visas go to MENA, Afghan or Pakistani citizens. Gaza visas went to ASIO after grant.New Immigration & IslamismEurope and America are reversing course on migration and Islamism. Is Australia?Seven countries tightened asylum rules or moved on Islamist groups in 2024–26. Some results are real, partly due to Syria. Australia moved fast after Bondi but has not reviewed Brotherhood networks.Immigration & IslamismThe migration surge and the housing collisionNet overseas migration spiked above 500,000 in a year as borders reopened — into a housing shortage the government knew about. Demand added by choice, faster than supply.Immigration & IslamismMigration beyond housingSchools, hospitals, roads and water were planned on population assumptions that were overtaken.Immigration & IslamismInternational students and the rental frontlineA rapid student-visa rebound concentrated in the very capital-city rental markets under most stress, met by on-again-off-again policy whiplash.RepresentativesThe humanitarian program and the push for higher migrationThe refugee and humanitarian intake, its source-country composition, and the members and ideology arguing to expand it — weighed against the national-interest case.RepresentativesThe refugees the region won't absorb — and Australia's capacity questionEgypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the Gulf states have largely refused to take in Palestinian refugees, for reasons of permanent-displacement politics, security and hard-won host-state stability. It is a human tragedy — and it reframes the absorption-capacity question behind Australia's own migration and humanitarian expansion.RepresentativesRecognition of Palestine: the shift inside the federal caucusHow federal Labor moved to recognise Palestinian statehood in 2025 — the caucus dynamics, the members who drove it, and the multilateral framing behind the decision.RepresentativesNational interest versus the separate agendasThe synthesis: weighing multilateral alignment, humanitarian ideology and electoral incentive against a national-interest test — fairly, and without impugning anyone's loyalty.RepresentativesThe electorate-incentive map: where the votes shape the positionThe psephology of Gaza and migration — which seats' demographic composition creates an electoral incentive, 'The Muslim Vote' campaign, and Greens primary-vote pressure. About the electorate, never the member.
20killed in Islamist attacks since 2014
31major plots foiled since 2014 (ASIO)
2 of 8attackers who arrived as adults
292,100net overseas migration, year to Mar 2026 (ABS)
11.3%of permanent places to MENA, Afghan or Pakistani citizens
2,601Gaza visa holders referred to ASIO after grant
−51%German first-time asylum claims, 2025
158Swedish shootings in 2025, down from 391 in 2022
306,000Australia's net overseas migration, 2024-25 (ABS)
500k+NOM in a year
shortdwelling completions
policychoice, not accident
260,000NOM forecast, 2025-26 (down from peak)
~301,000NOM, calendar 2025
statewho delivers the infrastructure
reboundstudent numbers
capitalsrental pressure
whiplashpolicy caps