Immigration brings 'benefits' to Australia, says premier amid anti-immigration rallies

By Asiye Latife Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Australian prime minister said on Monday that immigration has brought “a great deal of benefit” to the country, amid nationwide anti-immigration rallies over the weekend.

“There's always been an element of people who would appeal to any immigration as a platform. But migration has of course brought a great deal of benefit to our nation,” Anthony Albanese told ABC News.

Referring to the protesters organized by far-right groups over the weekend, he said some demonstrators were “good people” who expressed legitimate concerns, while noting that "what we have here is neo-Nazis being given a platform."

Albanese said that the tone of much of the rallies was “unfortunate,” as the best way to put it, and in some extreme cases, “hateful.”

“The idea that an open neo-Nazi was able to give a speech from the steps of the Victorian Parliament is something that isn't the Australian way,” he added.

Stressing that such protests do not reflect the views of the majority of Australians, he said that the country is a modern nation that has “benefited from our multiculturalism, that overwhelmingly people live in harmony of different ethnicities, different religions, different backgrounds, and we're enriched by the diversity in this country.”

Earlier, far-right groups calling for a halt to immigration held rallies in several cities, including Melbourne and Sydney. Members of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network spoke at several rallies, using slogans such as “Hail White Australia.”