Wollongong risks becoming "the Bangkok of the south" due to immigration levels, according to One Nation's NSW leader Mark Latham.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Latham was at North Wollongong to launch the party's seven-point plan for the Illawarra.
Number one on that list is to slow population growth to maintain current levels, easing congestion and aiding the city's "wonderful lifestyle".
"We want to preserve the lifestyle and slashing immigration helps do that," Mr Latham said.
He said one of things he liked about Wollongong was that it "has become wonderfully cosmopolitan".
When it was pointed out that "cosmopolitan" character occurred because of immigration, Mr Latham said "you can have too much of a good thing".
"Sure immigration in Australia was successful for Sydney and this region through the '60s and '70s and '80s," he said.
If you live here now you don't want to live in the Bangkok of the south.
- One Nation's Mark Latham
"If you live here now you don't want to live in the Bangkok of the south, you want to have an area that maintains lifestyle, it's got to have urban containment strategies, it doesn’t have congestion.
"Once you’ve achieved that cosmopolitan lifestyle you want to keep that and not have that spoilt by congestion where you can't find a parking spot, you've got stand up on the train."
The seven-point plan also included a promise of 2000 new commuter parking spaces - including a multi-storey car park at North Wollongong station - and a $200 million Illawarra Hospital Development Fund.
While it's not on the seven-point list, Mr Latham also raised the concern about international students at the University of Wollongong.
"It’s been a revenue raiser for the university sector but the overseas student numbers have got way out of control," he said.
"Should they be brought down? I think the answer to that is yes. Government should be in control of overseas student numbers. It shouldn't be a milch cow for the university sector."
Curiously, one of the seven most important items for the region, according to One Nation, is to support the St George Illawarra Dragons "in their struggle to achieve fair treatment for Jack de Belin".
"We should all care about the longstanding principle in our judicial system of a fair trial and innocent until proven guilty," Mr Latham said.
"It’s not just Jack de Belin. I think the Dragons have been very hard done by this prejudging. It seems the NRL already seems to know the court's decision in standing him down."