Scott Morrison will unveil immigration cut in 2019 budget after ’fair dinkum process’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed that a cut to Australia’s migrant intake will not be immediate, be will be costed as part of next year’s budget.

Australia’s migrant intake will be cut in next year’s budget, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed.

Mr Morrison outlined his timeframe for unveiling how much the rate of immigration would be cut by this morning after flagging on Monday night that it could potentially be reduced by about 30,000.

Speaking to 2GB host Alan Jones, the Prime Minister agreed the current annual cap on immigration was too high.

He said he had “dropped a pretty big hint” to the states it needed to be reduced but would ensure a “fair dinkum process ... to get the actual level right”.

As Treasurer in February, Mr Morrison warned a larger cut to immigration, of about 80,000, could result in a $5 billion hit to the federal budget bottom line.

“The migration program is set a year in advance. This year’s program is already set. We’re going to have to make a decision in next year’s budget for the program that follows that,” Mr Morrison said this morning.

OPINION: We’re more united on immigration than we think

MORE: Minister defends Morrison’s backflip on immigration

Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaking at the Project Sydney Bradfield Oration on Monday. Picture: AAP

“I’m asking each of the states and territories to tell me how many people they believe they can have next year. And it’s up to the states to tell me that because they’re the ones who build the hospitals and run the schools and put the roads in, and they need to tell me what their infrastructure can carry.

“I think I’ve dropped a pretty big hint, Alan. And people know that I’ll follow a process to come to the right answer. But I’m not going to pull a figure out of the air. That’s not how you run a country.”

State Premiers have been asked to report back to the Prime Minister at next month’s Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on the “population carrying capacity” of their existing and planned infrastructure and services so discussions on determining a new immigration rate can begin.

Australia’s annual immigration cap stands at 190,000 but only about 162,000 permanent visas were approved last year.

The government is reportedly in line for a similar figure this year.

Immigration Minister David Coleman said the idea to cut migrant numbers made “absolute sense” to prevent more overcrowding in Sydney and Melbourne.

An accurate image of everyone during peak hour in Melbourne. Picture: Tony Gough

But Mr Coleman said any changes proposed by the government would take into account the need for skilled migrants and the economic benefit they brought.

“At the end of the day, immigration is a recruitment exercise for the country,” he told Sky News.

He appeared to flag cuts to the temporary migration program, but not the student intake which formed the biggest part of that scheme.

Labor’s immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann has called the government’s idea a “cheap trick” designed to get a headline.

“(Mr Morrison) locked in Australia’s annual permanent migration intake at 190,000 during his time as immigration minister and then as treasurer,” Mr Neumann said.

“If he was wrong about that, he should explain why he was wrong.” The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia criticised the government’s idea as “divisive”.

“It is not good enough for the nation’s prime minister to abandon long-term vision for our future and opt for short-term populist politics,” chairwoman Mary Patetsos said.

- with AAP

Originally published as Scott Morrison will unveil immigration cut in 2019 budget after ’fair dinkum process’