Angus Taylor accused of ‘dog-whistling’ and marginalising immigrants over plan to cut benefits to non-citizens

Anthony Albanese has accused Angus Taylor of copying One Nation and “dog-whistling” to marginalise immigrants to Australia, as the Coalition seeks to cut social benefits and government programs for permanent residents. Delivering his budget reply speech on Thursday night, the opposition leader announced plans to slash immigration and restrict welfare programs to citizens only. This would cut access to the national disability insurance scheme, jobseeker and other safety nets from permanent residents who could be living in Australia and paying tax for years. Angus Taylor unveils plan to dramatically cut number of migrants in budget reply speech – video While there were years-long waiting periods to access such payments, meaning the plan may have relatively little impact, the Labor government savaged Taylor for taking aim at migrants, after previous plans to restrict first home buyer grants to citizens. The prime minister claimed the Coalition was imitating One Nation’s hardline anti-immigrant stance. “This is the tail wagging the Coalition dog – and dog is an appropriate term, because a lot of the speech was about dog-whistling,” Albanese said. …