CANBERRA, Australia, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- An Australian businessman says the heated debate in the country over immigration is counterproductive and he's surprised the nation is having it.
Toll road operator ConnectEast Group Chairman Tony Shepherd said the debate about "boatpeople" entering the country missed the point that Australia had benefited from immigration, The Australian reported Thursday.
"We are all fundamentally, other than our indigenous population, and even they probably too, we are all fundamentally boatpeople," Shepherd said at a business conference on the country's infrastructure. "That's what we've grown from".
"If you've got the gumption to go across in a leaky boat across the Timor Sea and arrive here, it is almost a pre-qualification," Shepherd said.
Australian politicians were sending out a confusing message about the country's population ambitions, another business owner said. UPI
