A leading East Gippsland grazier has suggested the region should open its doors to Afghanis who have been airlifted from the crisis in Kabul, in the wake of the Taliban taking control of the capital, as the Americans exit Afghanistan.
Shaun Beasley, who runs sheep and beef on his sprawling Lindenow South property, said East Gippsland “needs to populate or perish”.
The phrase was coined by Australia’s first Immigration Minister, Arthur Calwell, who sold mass immigration to a wary Australian public in the mid to late 40s, as he oversaw the country’s post-war immigration policy.
Mr Beasley contends that the region needs to encourage development in order to progress.
