An Australian mother has gained internet fame for expressing her deep appreciation towards immigrants who have made a positive impact on her family’s life. This includes the doctor who preserved her son’s vision and a delivery driver who ensures her packages are discreetly hidden from her husband.
Ashlee Griffiths said she owes a debt of gratitude to the skilled migrantsin her community.
‘I’m a big fan of immigration,’ she said in a video posted to social media.
‘When my children are sick, I can go down the road and visit the bulk billing doctor.
‘She’s from Pakistan, and she’s so wonderful with my children. She always makes time for us and actually listens to what they’re saying.’
It was during a difficult flu season Ms Griffiths said immigration made the biggest impact on her family.
Her son Charlie developed a serious eye infection caused by influenza and was at risk of losing his sight.
‘The ophthalmologist who figured out what was going on and helped us treat it was from Iraq,’ she said.
Tiktok star Ashlee Griffiths (pictured) said she owes a debt of gratitude to skilled migrantsin her community
Protesters gather during a March for Australia anti-immigration rally in Melbourne on Sunday
‘She was incredible. The lead doctor at the ophthalmology clinic guiding her was from Sri Lanka. Together, they offered exceptional support in the medical setting.’
It wasn’t just the medical field where she felt the benefits of Australia’s multicultural population.
‘My favourite university lecturer, who taught me about social policies..she was from England,’ she said.
‘And up the road from us, in a town Ingham there is a thriving Italian community, and the Italian festival has the best food you’ll ever have.’
She also gave a special mention to a delivery driver from India who helps her hide her parcels from her husband.
‘He knows exactly where to stash them,’ she said.
Her video, now widely circulated on social media, resonated with audiences who applauded her acknowledgment of the significant role immigrants play in Australia’s medical sector.
One nurse said the system would ‘collapse’ without immigrants.
Many blame immigration for the nation’s housing crisis
‘Filipina nurses are some of the best nurses around,’ she said.
Another said they would never forget the kindess of a hospital worker.
‘The gentleman who stayed by my hospital bed when I was a child, meticulously cleaning out the artificial skin from my hair post-brain tumor surgery, wore a turban,’ they recalled.
‘Armed with a soapy water bucket and a fine-tooth comb, he tenderly worked through my hair. I was 15 at the time. His compassion remains unforgettable.’
One woman praised her British doctor for helping her through a miscarriage.
‘I adore her,’ she said.
‘The nurse who sat beside my Nan when she died when we couldn’t be there is from Sudan. Grateful for immigration.’
However other commenters pointed out the irony of anti-immigration sentiment in a country built by immigrants.
‘We’re a country of immigrants, said one.
‘My family may have immigrated with the colonists but we still immigrated to this country that belongs to our First Nations people.
‘We would be truely stuffed without immigration. They make us the beautiful, diverse country we are.’
Others agreed.
‘The fact that the whole of Australia was built on people from somewhere else and now generations later they are complaining about immigrants.’
Another said her mother-in-law came over from England when she was a toddler and was anti-immigration.
‘She talks about it all the times and posts all over Facebook constantly how much she hates it and how much she loves Australia,’ she said.
‘I always found it so ironic.. Then I realised she’s against non-white immigration.’
Others shared shared emotional experiences involving immigrant workers and neighbours, those small moments of care that left lasting impressions.
‘My fave Aus Post delivery driver is Indian and he’s such a sweetheart,’ said one.
‘He quickly realized I had a newborn and a barking dog that reacts to door knocks, so he found ideal places to stow my packages quietly, ensuring my daughter remains undisturbed.’
Another mother praised her Bhutanese neighbours for their it takes a village to raise a child attitude to life.
‘I never have to worry about being alone in the house when my husband is away or worry about childcare because their culture is so deeply rooted in community that it makes me feel like we’re a big extended family living in one compound,’ she said.
‘I always have food coming in. Kids running around. My kids, their kids. I was so surprised with their hospitality at the beginning.
‘Imagine your neighbours buying new toys for their kids but also getting yours a new one just because your kids play with their kids.’
Others didn’t believe immigration should be stopped but slowed down while housing pressures eased.
‘They can slow it down until housing is more abundant and rentals aren’t sky rocketing,’ said one.
‘Yes I know billionaires are holding some housing hostage; but even then, a lot of houses were burnt in the wildfires. a lot are damaged by floods.
‘The government needs to rush building more housing then this wouldn’t be an issue. There needs to be balance.’
