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Last updated on August 9th, 2017 at 08:00 am
More than 150,000 Germans packed their bags and left in 2004—the greatest exodus in any single year since the late 1940s.
And where are these unhappy slap-dancers going? Well, among other places, to Australia:
New Immigration Department figures show 123,424 people decided to call Australia home last financial year, the highest number since the 145,316 recorded in 1988-89.
Welcome, Germans! And welcome also to 5000 refugees, 33,000 from Asia, 24,000 from Africa and the Middle East, 2000 from North America, 17,000 from New Zealand …
(Those figures will come as a surprise to The Guardian, which believes John Howard was “re-elected last year on a hardline anti-immigration platform.”)
- Maybe the Germans thought they were going to Austria …Posted by Stevo on 2006 01 01 at 02:53 AM • permalink
- The slow European suicide continues.Posted by Oafish and Infantile on 2006 01 01 at 03:12 AM • permalink
- I wonder what “hardline” means … the circumstances around who comes into the country? … Australia needs to frame its immigration policies on what’s good for the country, and not what sells papers in the UK …
I’m glad we got rid of the laissez-faire approach of previous governments by starting to manage policy and not be afraid of what others think … Howard has some backbone contrary to what you read or hear …
- Its not that long ago my german economics professor was telling us we would have to emulate germany’s policies to succeed. Instead Howard went his own way and history now speaks for the wisdom of not following the european model.Posted by Astonished on 2006 01 01 at 04:16 AM • permalink
- I would argue that in a strict economic sense, Australia is a lot closer economic and welfare policy wise with the Europeans than more capitalist societies (well, let’s face it – the only significant one more capitalist than us would be the USA, I’m not counting eastern European countries).
To give some examples, IR (even with the new legislation we still, in many ways, have greater Government intervention than just about any country), childcare and maternity policy, adn redistribution of wealth, increasingly through the welfare system rather than tax.
Of course, the truth is that we have picked our own way between market dominant and government dominant society, and came up with a solution that for the moment, seems to work very well for us….dare i say it that we have found a third way?
Howard, of course, does not use the term third way as he tends to eschew smart alecky labels around which to rouse the troops. Nevertheless, he has said on a number of occasions to have sought a unique solution that suits Oz rather than just look to America (he is not stupid enough to look to Europe). The moonbats, who loathe Howard as much as Amerikkka, ignore what he does, and accuse him of trying to make Oz into a bunch of yank imitators.
- I’ve been seeing many immigrants from Europe in Ohio of all places. They seem to like the farmland and wide open spaces. Makes a great place to raise a family.
Interestingly, many of these are from Great Britain. Sure gives us a good pool of dad-soccer coaches. Although they can be a bit difficult to understand (this blog actually helps me with their slang), they sure know their soccer.
Posted by wronwright on 2006 01 01 at 10:28 AM • permalink
- High unemployment in Germany?
Not good news. Bad things tend to happen when the Aryan Teutons have a financial crisis. After all, how could anything be their own fault? Untermenschen, beware.
Posted by SoCalJustice on 2006 01 01 at 12:57 PM • permalink
- I read the whole Yahoo article and my response is “How pathetic is that?”. I remember what Germany was like when I was growing up in the ‘70s. The mark was strong, a rival to the dollar, and Germany was the envy of Europe and the world. They were practically supporting East Germany, too, although no one ever said that straight out. Now they sound like the Irish in the 1800s, just looking to go anywhere else. What happened? Are the root causes political in essence? Or is it some grand macroeconomic change? Is it the difference between Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl on the one hand and Gerhard Schroeder on the other? Did the reunification with East Germany throw off their equilibrium and disrupt their work ethic and social compact? Have they maybe just grown stupid and lazy through smug self-satisfaction? I honestly would like to know.
- tim — Sure, welcome them now, but wait til you have to talk to the assholes. Do you think they’ve learned the smallest lesson from the mess they’ve made of their own country? Nope. My experience with Western Eurotrash immigrants is they can’t wait to insult the country they fled to. Betcha the one’s downunder are no different.Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 01 01 at 03:21 PM • permalink
- One of the measures of the quality of a State is how many people are leaving it and how many people are emigrating to it.
But what’s going on in New Zealand? 17,000 Kiwis leave for Oz? What’s up with that?
Posted by Mystery Meat on 2006 01 01 at 04:24 PM • permalink
- BTW, the most recent figures I’ve read about the USA is that about 3 million Americans live outside the country, with about 2/3s of that number living in Canada or Mexico. Nobody really knows what the total annual immigration, both legal and illegal is, but the figure most commonly tossed around is 2-3 million.
In 2004, the total number of immigrants from black Africa exceeded the total number of black Africans brought to the USA as slaves. These new black African immigrants achieve the same income and educational level as white Americans. In 2004, 2/3s of black students entering Harvard University were either born in Africa, the West Indies, or were the first-generation children of these immigrants.
Posted by Mystery Meat on 2006 01 01 at 04:35 PM • permalink
- Rich Germans have been buying farms in South Australia for decades. At one stage, it was (according to rumor) to have a place to live that wouldn’t get nuked if the Cold War went hot. However, the fall of the Russian Empire did not stop the process.
Why South Australia? There has long been a substantial German presence here, dating back to a big immigration in the 19th century. It was German immigrants who created the wine industry in the Barossa valley, Australia’s best-known wine district, so we have a lot to thank them for.
The German-born farmers around my district are generally well-regarded by the locals, for what that’s worth, even though most of them are/were not farmers in Germany.
Posted by Chris Chittleborough on 2006 01 01 at 04:57 PM • permalink
- #12 Brett_McS
Any attempt to regulate a market does require constant adjustment, which is true regardless of the level of actual intervention. I am not sure I agree that the current Federal Government is heading in the right direction with regard to size of Government and amount of regulation. Rather they are changing the rules (regs) with the intention of making them less intrusive. It will be interesting to see if they work.
With regard to small goverment, it is true when Howard came to Government there was significant reduction in the size of Government in order to restore the budget (public servants were fighting fo rthe redundancies!), there has been significant growth since. Fortunately, the economy has also grow ,though nobody would be silly enough to describe a causal relationship.
- I’ve been threatening to move down there for a long time, now. I already have a welcome mat out from Nick and Nora. I’ve got pals in Brisbane. One of these days, I may actually do it. But if I do, I want to be where the fewest ME types are. Germans, no problem. I even speak a little Deutch. But I do not want to hear Arabic in the streets.
I wonder if I can claim refugee status. Maybe, if Hillary gets elected in ‘08, I will do a Baldwin, only I will actually follow through with it. I would be a refugee then. Do refugees get free pies?
- #26
Whatever you do, Australians, don’t… mention… the war!
I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.
#17
My experience with Western Eurotrash immigrants is they can’t wait to insult the country they fled to
It will be interesting to see what happens. Personally, I believe lots of people fleeing Eurabia coming here is a good thing. They will be unlikely to support anything which could lead to a repeat. Most of the French would go to Canada, however I suspect large immigration from Holland and maybe even England is next.
- richard mcenroe
Re #17 – Insulting German refugees.I’ve bumped into both sorts. Insulters and Appreciators.
We employ the American wife of an expatriate Luftwaffe pilot who’s quite happily employed driving a local puddle jumper. Eeeeeevil America enables him to fly for a living and raise his kid while helping pay off their mortgage on a nice home in a good neigborhood. This guy is surely not stuck on verzögert.
On the other hand, such appreciation for opportunity and bounty doesn’t grow on trees.
This recently became apparent through hanging out with a dear old America-born girlfriend who fled back here a couple years ago for employment after 10yrs in the fatherland. She has very little to say that’s good about the America which gainfully employs her – this is curious as her 1st gen immigrant German parents seem to dig Amerika well enough.
The German engineer boyfriend she returned [home] with quickly hightailed it back into the comforting arms of a German incentive package and after a zoloft mediated year of socialist nostalgia she’s still at a complete loss to explain why exactly she stays here whilst bitching so much about life in Chimpyville USA…Crawling as it is with dangerously evangelical Christians.
A typical conversation with her usually follows this trajectory: Blah blah…Not enough pay/vacation…Blah…Boob-enhanced cookie-cutter bitches…Blahdiblah…Not enough caring…Blahdiblahdiblah…Did I mention that I’m a socialist…Boogahboogahblah…Why does my daddy-boy Lebanese graphical artist boyfriend smoke so much pot…Ugggh!
Minion’s lament – Why do I still suffer a pretty teutonic face with cabbage for brains?
Anyway…Recently I’ve been bumping into quite a few (well more than a couple anyway) single German mothers feverishly vacation-fishing for American husbands – relationshipwrecks with rastamen are all the rage it seems. Mind you I live on a speck of an island of little import in the grander scheme of things so I’m inclined to thinking that something more fundamental than Jimmy Buffet dreams or ethno-fetishism is causing Germans to speak with their feet even as they bitch through their mouth holes.
Dave S. – Ain’t that the truth. Even the mere mention of ‘the war’ in an America done good to kick the crap out of Der Führercontext generally provokes a reaction I imagine would be hardly less strained had I been brushing jerk seasoning on sizzling babies.
They are serious people.
- How pathetic, the implication is that it’s the spunky, energetic go-getters that are bailing—leaving behind the timid, the welfare-sucks, and the socialist dead-enders (folks, that’s a great Rumsfeld term, we can’t let it fall into disuse). Which does NOT bode well for the population-shrinking welfare state.
Monkeyfan—if any of those German mamas are hot and have big Bavarian tatas, you can point ‘em my way.
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