Qld reheats calls for migration ‘moderation’ – and more federal cash

The news

The state Labor government has attempted to make a big splash, calling for their Canberra counterparts, on federal budget day, to ease migration to help with housing pressures.

“We urge them to consider moderating migration levels to assist with population growth,” Premier Steven Miles said, without naming a concrete target.

Premier Steven Miles has picked up where his predecessor, Annastacia Palaszczuk, left off in late 2022, when she said a federal increase to overseas migration would add to the housing “pressure cooker”.Credit: Jamila Toderas

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon, in an opinion piece of her own, called for a “sensible conversation about migration” and federal funding to meet the state’s population growth.

But speaking to journalists, Deputy Premier and Treasurer Cameron Dick said the state ultimately supported federal Labor government efforts to halve migration, though it wanted faster action.

Why it matters

The intervention builds on arguments state Labor, along with federal figures, have been pushing occasionally for years, and it echoes recent comments by Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.

While foreign immigration levels hit a record national high of 510,000 last year, this was largely seen as a temporary post-COVID spike that was set to halve over the next 12 months under federal plans.

As political rhetoric and public sentiment shifts, advocates have warned about scapegoating migrants, while experts highlight their importance, as well as bigger, longer-term housing failures.

Queensland will hand down its own pre-election state budget – which Dick warned would be “difficult” – on June 11.

What they said

“The reality is, our population is growing much faster than industry can build homes,” Miles said in a statement, suggesting that migration outpacing new homes played a “big part” in rapid price and rent rises.

“The federal government needs to assist us to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with population growth,” he said.

“Queensland is proud of our multicultural community, and we want to see people continue to move here. We just need it to be at a manageable level.”

Miles said skilled migration was still needed, and he welcomed federal government agreement to a request to prioritise visas for construction workers.

Speaking to journalists in Logan, Dick said that in the year to September, Queensland’s population grew by 144,000 people – 88,000 of which were international arrivals.

Pushed on specific levels at which the state would like to see migration, he said it supported the federal target, adding: “But we need the federal government to get on with that.”

Dick dismissed as “offensive” questions that the intervention was an attempt to feed off anti-immigration sentiment to court One Nation voters ahead of the October election.

At Tuesday’s Brisbane City Council meeting, Schrinner welcomed Miles’ request to slow migration.

“This is something that – in its unchecked form at the moment – is adding pressure to our already oversubscribed housing market,” Schrinner said.

“It is adding pressure that is driving up rents.”

What you need to know

Property prices and rents nationwide had already seen a lengthy run of record increases before Australia reopened its international borders in early 2022.