Australia news live: Liberal senator Andrew Bragg says he ‘strongly disagrees’ with Tony Abbott on multiculturalism

Within Australia's Liberal Party, senator Andrew Bragg has publicly disagreed with former prime minister Tony Abbott, who claimed multiculturalism has failed in Australia. Speaking on ABC's Insiders, Bragg countered that liberalism itself created the conditions for multiculturalism through frameworks protecting freedom of religion, conscience, and thought. He cited historical precedent: the postwar Menzies government opening Australia to immigration, the Holt government dismantling aspects of the White Australia policy, and Malcolm Fraser's promotion of multiculturalism, including the establishment of the SBS. For Australia to remain prosperous, Bragg argued, it needs a migration program that drives productivity, not one reverting to the White Australia policy, according to The Guardian.

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