Nation Building: How Immigration Made Australia

Publisher's description:
Nation Building. How Immigration Made Australia is the first political memoir from the Hon Philip Ruddock AO, Australia’s second longest-serving federal parliamentarian and longest-serving Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. It is Ruddock’s first-hand account of a political career spanning 43 years in the Australian Parliament and his role in reshaping the nation’s immigration system. In it Ruddock argues that immigration did not simply change Australia, it built Australia.

The book moves beyond the controversies that have long defined public discussion of Ruddock’s record. It traces the broader evolution of Australian immigration: from the end of the White Australia policy and the emergence of multiculturalism to the development of a predominantly skills-based migration program.

At its centre is Ruddock’s argument that immigration has been one of the great nation-building forces in modern Australian history, helping to create a younger, stronger, more prosperous and more globally connected country.

The book examines the reforms undertaken during Ruddock’s period as Immigration Minister including the shift towards skilled migration, new pathways for international students and temporary skilled workers, the mainstreaming of multicultural policy and efforts to maintain public confidence in Australia’s migration and humanitarian programs.

It also confronts the most difficult and divisive episodes of his ministerial career, including the rise of Pauline Hanson, the Tampa affair, unauthorised boat arrivals and the events of 2001. Ruddock reflects on the decisions that were made, the principles that guided them, their consequences and the areas in which Australia could have done better. It includes a foreword by former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration Dr Abul Rizvi.

The book also turns to what Ruddock describes as “a global dilemma”: the present state of a world increasingly shaped by migration and mass displacement. At a time when immigration, population growth and multiculturalism are again at the centre of national political debate, Nation Building provides both a record of the past and a timely reckoning for Australia’s future.

Authors: Philip Ruddock, Anthony Brewster

Publisher: Global Stories

Format: Paperback

Pages: 252

Published: 21 September 2026

ISBN: 9781764031684