Nearly all speakers agreed that immigration had little net impact on the broader economy, and so the real debate lies elsewhere … on the issues of national identity and social cohesion. The unanswered question of national identityWith economics out of the way, the rest of the day was left to deal with the issues of national identity and social cohesion. Before this time, it was understood that political loyalty and cultural identity were separate topics… The French innovation was to merge the two concepts, and link people’s cultural identity to their political system. Do Australians see themselves as having a distinct Aussie culture and national identity, or are we simply part of the Australian political system (with many cultures) and we get our sense of identity elsewhere? Immigration and Aussie cultureAs mentioned earlier, culture is always evolving, and one cause of that evolution is immigration.