This Month
‘Give us a chance’: More visas not enough to fix skills crisis
According to a recently launched coalition of business groups, unions and community organisations, more than 620,000 permanent migrants work below their skill levels and qualifications.
- Ronald Mizen
- Exclusive
- Skills shortage
Tradies to join yoga instructors on core migration skills list
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the federal government was moving to address critical shortages, including in new home construction.
- Tom McIlroy and Michael Read
October
- Exclusive
- International students
Desperate colleges lure agents, students with cash offers
With the introduction of student caps looming, desperate vocational colleges are using unethical practices to shore up numbers.
- Julie Hare
September
- Exclusive
- International students
Banned colleges allocated thousands of places under student caps
Private vocational colleges say the allocation of caps for new international students for 2025 has been a ramshackle process.
- Julie Hare
August
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Dutton and Albanese ignore ASIO warning to tone down Gaza brawl
Peter Dutton sees an advantage in keeping up the pressure on Anthony Albanese over visas for Gaza refugees, accusing him of making the country less safe.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Immigration
Populist surge makes it essential to spread gains of migration
Conflict over migration is now breaking out into the open in Western nations. But excessive limits would have a high cost too.
- Tanveer Ahmed
July
Albanese guts Home Affairs in pointed reshuffle
Anthony Albanese has gutted the Home Affairs department and moved aside the two ministers responsible for the troubled Immigration portfolio, in a modest but pointed reshuffle.
- Phillip Coorey
Labor Right pushes for extra spot as O’Neil speculation swirls
Speculation is intensifying that Clare O’Neil will be shifted from Home Affairs and be replaced by Agriculture Minister Murray Watt.
- Phillip Coorey
- Exclusive
- Immigration
Queensland to cop skilled migrant cut amid boost to smaller states
Queensland will be the only Australian state to suffer a reduction in the number of skilled migrant allocations this financial year.
- Tom Rabe
June
AFR readers back Dutton’s assessment of climate targets
Almost 70 per cent of readers believe Australia is unlikely to meet its “aggressive” emissions reductions targets.
- Maxim Shanahan
Giles junks Direction 99, seeks end to immigration saga
The opposition says the changes to Ministerial Directive 99 do not go far enough and is vowing tougher action if elected.
- Updated
- Phillip Coorey
More voters considering Coalition than 18 months ago: Dutton
The opposition leader has partly pinned the shift on Labor’s response to anti-Semitism; Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says a new ministerial direction on visas prioritises public safety. How the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Hannah Wootton
AAT plagiarist survives administrative cull
The body that decides on immigration appeals is getting a revamp. Though some familiar faces remain.
- Updated
- Myriam Robin
Immigration a rising concern for voters
Immigration has surged as an issue of concern among voters while the government’s perceived handling of the issue is continuing to decline.
- Phillip Coorey
May
Albanese opens door for Giles’ exit amid NZ PM’s grave concerns’
Anthony Albanese is making no commitment to keeping the embattled immigration minister as he weighs a winter reshuffle.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Immigration
Giles scandal shows we disdain bureaucracies until we need services
Slashing the capabilities of government departments means that in the real world, dodgy characters escape scrutiny and genuine needs go unanswered.
- Laura Tingle
- Opinion
- Canberra Observed
There won’t be a reshuffle until there is one
To move Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, a close factional ally of the Prime Minister and member of his praetorian guard, could cause more problems than it would solve.
- Phillip Coorey
Kiwis warn PM against a return to deporting criminals
New Zealand is seeking input into a new ministerial directive amid concerns the Albanese government will re-start deporting criminals.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Why rate cuts look even further away
The latest inflation figures look like bad news for interest rates, even if the government doesn’t agree.
- Jennifer Hewett
Labor revamps deportation directive to stem visa crisis
The controversial Direction 99 will be rewritten to ensure legal authorities “give weight to community safety” when hearing appeals against visa cancellations.
- Phillip Coorey and Andrew Tillett