Briefing MONTHLY #97 | June 2026

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It’s been a wearying month for those who know Australia’s continued prosperity depends on our ability to attract migrants, particularly those of working age. The latest data shows net migration accounts for about three quarters of population growth. Without migrants, our population would be close to shrinking – and, more crucially with an eye to economic output, it would also be aging more rapidly.

Migration policy is complex. One Nation has reduced it to slogans. The party has perfected the art of the social media takedown with slick animations that have mass appeal, including among some Chinese Australians. (see ASIAN NATION).

Singapore’s unique approach to keeping the peace among different ethnic groups has been in the spotlight after it shut down cyber agitators (see NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH). This month we also take a close look at Indonesia where the plunging rupiah reflects growing disquiet about rapid policy revisions and interventions. Economic nationalism has been a feature of Indonesia since independence in 1945 – three centuries of colonial rule will do that to a nation – and it’s expanding under President Prabowo Subianto. Students are once again leading protests in Jakarta and in India, a new group is reminding governments everywhere of what can happen when highly-educated youth can’t find jobs.

Thanks for reading this month.

Emma Connors
Briefing MONTHLY editor

Singapore is famous for orderliness so it’s not surprising its brand of multiculturalism is highly regulated. Ethnic Chinese account for just over three-quarters of Singaporeans, Malays 15 per cent, and Indians 7.4 per cent. In the subsidised housing in which most citizens live, residents are monitored to ensure the mix reflects the population at large. The Ethnic Integration Policy limits the percentage of a block or neighbourhood that can be occupied by any ethnic group. The aim is to ensure a balanced mix in housing estates and to prevent racial enclaves.

This month, the PAP government moved to stamp out a threat to its carefully constructed and maintained blend of ethnic harmony. On June 6, the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered Google, Meta and X to block access to 14 posts that made wild claims about the nation’s Indian population, suggesting Singapore was being crowded out by Indians. The government said the content likely originated from individuals as opposed to state actors in China.

Singapore’s Law Minister Edwin Tong told reporters the “offensive and problematic” posts suggested Chinese people had more right to be in Singapore than others. He said: “We don’t tolerate any narratives at all that seek to undermine the racial harmony that we enjoy and that we protect, especially when they are propagated by foreigners.” 

You can’t see any of these posts anymore – such is the might of the Singaporean government’s disabling directions – but you can watch a Straits Times discussion in which ST columnist and former China bureau chief Tan Dawn Wei ruminates on China’s attitude toward Singapore. “On the one hand we are so much like them. Most of us are ethnic Chinese, most speak Mandarin … and yet we are so unlike them in so many other ways. They admire us for our success, for our social order, our efficiency, our wealth … but at the same time, there is perhaps some disdain,” she says.

At a recent Lowy Institute event, Ja Ian Chong from the National University of Singapore said the posts pushed at “cleavages within Singapore… Singapore has been very careful about race and racial issues. But I think one of our limitations is that we try to move aside the discussion rather than face it …”

Many Indonesians feel they have not truly eaten a meal unless it includes rice, hence the saying “no rice, no glory” (belum makan kalau belum makan nasi). In coming weeks, this staple will be free of charge for some. The government of President Prabowo Subianto is supplying 10 kilogram sacks of rice to 33.24 million people, part of a 26.34 trillion rupiah ($2.18 billion) economic stimulus package. Rice aid is not unusual, however it will not help the middle class, many of whom voted for Prabowo in last year’s election and now feel disillusioned.

On the surface at least, the world’s fourth most populous country appears to be on the path to continued prosperity. In the first three months of this year, gross domestic product grew by 5.61 per cent year-on-year. This result was better than the average growth of G20 and ASEAN economies, according to Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. At a lecture at Nankai University in Tianjin, Purbaya spoke of strong economic momentum, stable prices and credible policy resilience amidst global uncertainties.

The plunging rupiah tells another story.