BBC Online :The architect of Australia’s tough immigration policies has voiced his approval for the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.Former Australian prime minister John Howard said the UK had the right to choose who settled within its borders. Concerns over immigration were a key motivator for many Britons who voted to leave the EU.Proponents of the Brexit have called for an Australian-style points-based system to select migrants.”It was the only way in which they could regain control of their borders and regain control of things that are fundamental attributes of an independent nation,” Mr Howard told Sky News Australia.In a 2001 re-election speech, Mr Howard famously said Australia would “decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come”. He enacted the so-called Pacific Solution, which allowed asylum seekers arriving by boat to be transported to offshore centres and prevented from reaching Australian soil.The policies were politically popular and lowered the number of asylum seekers arriving in the country by boat, but were criticised by human rights groups. Nearly 10 years after he left office, both Australia’s ruling Liberal-National coalition and the opposition Labor party support tough immigration policies.
