Migrants to Australia have displayed an inability to assimilate with local values and refuse to speak anything but their native tongue, a study covering the last 200 years has found.

The study confirms a popularly-held belief in parts of the country that migrants simply refuse to fit in.

Boat people from as far back as 1788 didn’t bother applying for passports or visas, were set on introducing their own laws, and, in many cases concealed criminal records, according to the damning report.

Chief researcher Marianne Williams said migrants have stubbornly refused to adapt to the local culture. “They haven’t made an effort to fit in, and in a lot of cases they’ve tried to impose their own laws onto those already here”.

One migrant, a chook thief in his native England, immigrated to Australia in 1803 and despite his past career and skill set, was reduced to working as a local politician to make ends meet.

_____

A version of this article was first published in 2017