Australian politician calls for 'Muslim ban', and 'final solution' to immigration

Queensland senator Fraser Anning stunned lawmakers when he invoked during a speech the infamous Nazi phrase - final solution - used under Adolf Hitler for the extermination of 6 million Jewish people in Europe.

He then called for a Muslim ban in the country, and for the government to return to a policy of encouraging white immigration in place for seven decades from 1901.

"Those who come here need to assimilate and integrate... ethnocultural diversity... has been allowed to rise to dangerous levels in many suburbs".

"In direct response, self-segregation, including white flight from poorer inner-urban areas, has become the norm."

Anning singled out Muslims for particular criticism.

"Consistently [they have] shown to be the least able to assimilate and integrate," he said.

"While all Muslims are not terrorists, certainly all terrorists these days are Muslims, so why would anyone want to bring more of them here?"

Immigration is a big issue in Australian politics, with figures this month showing migration numbers hit a 10-year low last year, with the annual intake falling by 20,000 to 162,000 as vetting procedures were tightened.

Anning's comments sparked a backlash from all sides of politics, led by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who emphasised Australia was one of the most successful multicultural societies in the world.

"So we reject, we condemn racism in any form, and the remarks by Senator Anning are justly condemned and rejected by us all," he said.

Independent Senator Derryn Hinch said there "was hardly a group of Australians he did not offend unless you were very close to being a member of the Ku Klux Klan".

Even Pauline Hanson, of the far-right One Nation Party, which proposes zero-net migration and opposition to Islam, said Anning went too far.

"You may have your grievances on what Fraser Anning has said, don't direct them at me," she added. "It's got nothing to do with me."

Despite the criticism, Anning was unrepentant Wednesday and claimed he did not know the connection between the phrase "final solution" and Nazi Germany.

"I don't regret anything, I am not going to apologise or regret anything that I say," he said.