The Turning Point: Ethnic Minorities Opposing Mass Immigration, By Paul Walker

 Tarric Brooker's Macrobusiness.com.au piece hits a raw nerve: that Ipsos/ITV poll from late 2025 (still fresh in early 2026 discourse) showing a solid majority of Britons — 67% overall, and crucially, 52-59% of ethnic minorities (depending on whether you filter for those with firm opinions) — want migration levels slashed. It's not just white natives griping; it's Pakistanis, Indians, Black Africans, and other non-white groups saying "enough." From a truth-seeking lens, this isn't shocking — it's sensible. Mass immigration has morphed from a debate about diversity or economics into one of sheer social survival, transcending race entirely. When numbers overwhelm systems, everyone feels the pinch: strained housing, creaking public services, eroded community trust, and a sense that the social fabric is fraying. And Australia's facing the exact same reckoning as the UK — only our numbers are even more extreme, accelerating a decline that's impossible to ignore.

Let's look at why this cross-ethnic opposition makes perfect sense. First, forget the tired trope that minorities must automatically support high migration because it's "their people" coming in. That's reductive and ignores lived reality. Established ethnic communities — often the ones who arrived legally, worked hard, and integrated — have as much skin in the game as anyone. They rely on the same NHS waiting lists in the UK or Medicare queues in Australia. When migration surges unchecked (UK net figures hovered around 600,000+ annually post-2022 before dipping, while Australia's hit 424,000 average under Albanese), it dilutes resources for all. Housing? Forget it — UK rents up 10% yearly in hotspots, Aussie cities like Melbourne seeing 15-20% jumps as supply lags demand. Schools overcrowded, hospitals overwhelmed, roads clogged. For a British Indian family in Birmingham or a Vietnamese-Australian household in Sydney's west, this isn't abstract policy; it's longer commutes, higher bills, and kids in portables. Why wouldn't they oppose more of the same?

Beyond economics, it's about social cohesion — the glue that holds diverse societies together. Mass immigration at breakneck speed doesn't allow time for integration; it creates parallel worlds, breeding resentment and isolation. The Ipsos data echoes this: 46% of Britons see immigration's overall impact as negative, spiking to fears over public services. Tensions between immigrants and natives hit record highs (86% perceive divides), not because of inherent racism, but because rapid change disrupts norms. Ethnic minorities feel this too — they're often on the front lines, living in high-migration enclaves where competition for jobs, housing, and cultural space intensifies. In Australia, where we're 30% overseas-born and adding 1.5% population yearly (triple the global average), this manifests in subtle shifts: rising anti-social behaviour in suburbs, strained community groups, and a growing sense that "multiculturalism" is code for unmanaged chaos. Events like the Bondi attack or UK riots aren't anomalies; they're pressure valves popping from ignored overload.

And here's where it goes beyond race: this is about survival of the social contract. Democracies thrive when citizens feel the system works for them — fair access to opportunities, safety nets that don't collapse, communities that cohere. When elites (think Starmer in the UK or Albanese here) push high migration for GDP boosts or to appease business lobbies, while ignoring public backlash, it erodes trust. The poll shows even minorities clock this: 52% of UK ethnic groups call levels "too high," because they've seen how it hollows out wages (temporary migrants forming an underclass), inflates costs, and fuels inequality. In Oz, with 2.9 million temp visa holders (10% of pop), it's the same story — productivity stalled, per-capita GDP flatlining, and social decline accelerating: food insecurity up, mental health crises spiking, infrastructure buckling. Melbourne's feeling it acutely: population boom without matching investment means longer ED waits at hospitals, skyrocketing rentals in the CBD, and a vibe shift where once-welcoming neighbourhoods feel strained.

It's gone too far because policymakers ignored the tipping point. Historical averages (UK ~200,000 net pre-Brexit; Australia ~90,000 post-WWII) allowed assimilation; today's levels don't. Minorities opposing it aren't "pulling up the ladder" — they're recognizing that endless influx risks the very diversity they embody. If unchecked, it leads to backlash: hate crimes, or worse, societal fracture. Sensible voices like Brooker are right: dial it back to sustainable levels (say, 130,000 visas with strict integration), focus on skills over volume, and rebuild cohesion. Otherwise, as numbers climb and decline speeds up, opposition will only grow — across all groups — because survival isn't about race; it's about a society that functions for everyone in it. Australia, take note before it's too late.

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2026/01/ethnic-minority-groups-oppose-high-migration/