Dawson MP Andrew Willcox blames immigration for housing crisis amid declining immigration
Claiming the “Big Australia” policy isn’t working in Qld where new arrivals with the wrong skillsets are taking up housing, a federal MP has called for a further “slowdown” of immigration.
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Blaming immigration for adding to the country’s housing crisis, a regional federal MP says Australia does not need more “dog groomers” and “martial artists” but skilled tradies.
This is despite immigrants arriving to Australia in smaller numbers.
Speaking about housing shortages, Dawson MP Andrew Willcox said, “what’s happened is housing has not been able to keep up with the immigration that Labor has let into this country”.
“It’s totally out of kilter,” Mr Willcox said.
He said the “big Australia” policy had put too much pressure on the housing market, calling for a further slowdown of immigration which, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, had already reduced by 90,000 fewer overseas migrants in 2023-2024.
In that time period migrant arrivals decreased by 10 per cent whereas migrant departures increased by eight per cent, bringing Australia’s net migration in 2023-2024 to 446,000, down from 536,000 in 2022-2023.
Dawson Labor candidate Neil Wallace said, “you can’t take the LNP seriously on this”, claiming Opposition Leader Peter Dutton oversaw a “broken system”.
“Three independent reports found the migration system was fundamentally broken under his watch,” Mr Wallace said.
“Andrew Wilcox talks tough, but his record doesn’t back this up – when he had the chance to cap international student numbers, he opposed it.”
The largest group of migrant arrivals in 2023-2024 were 207,000 temporary students, down from 278,000 the previous year.
According to the ABS temporary student immigrants represent an estimated $50bn contribution to the Australian economy through tuition fees, accommodation, health, food and transport.
Furthermore, an estimated $13bn of this $50bn expenditure to our economy is funded by international students working for Australian employers.
Other temporary visa holders include an estimated 80,000 working holiday makers.
When asked if he would consider ending regional working requirements for working holiday visa holders to prevent any strain to regional housing markets Mr Wilcox said, “not at all”.
“Rather than actual migrants a lot of that is the backpacker trade that comes in and helps within the hospitality industry,” Mr Willcox said, explaining it was about prioritising the right kind of immigrant such as tradies and electricians rather than “dog groomers and martial arts instructors”.
When asked if he had any figures relating to the skills and workforce allocation of immigrants entering Australia Mr Wilcox said he did not have them at hand.
“The migrants have contributed so much to this great country of ours and we really, really appreciate it, but the Big Australia policy just needs to slow down,” Mr Willcox said.
In 2023-2024 the number of immigrants entering the country on temporary visas was down by 91 per cent across the board compared to previous years.
According to the ABS 40 per cent of permanent visas granted in 2023-2024 were to skilled workers, a category that covers 674 occupations — some of which are only eligible for regional visas — including actors, auto electricians, biomedical engineers and engineering managers.
“This is the best country in the world,” Mr Willcox said.
“So, let’s make sure that we get the people that are the most suitable for us.”
When asked if he would incentivise growth in the regions, he once again said the country needed tradie immigrants over “martial artists and dog groomers”.
Mr Wilcox was then asked if he would advocate for a tradie-based immigration incentive program to which he replied: “we’ll be advocating for people that can actually contribute for where we are in Australia here and now.”
Mr Wallace said Australia’s population is “actually smaller than the Liberals projected it would be” and said Labor was committed to building 1.2m homes in five years.
“We’re also delivering Help to Buy, which is just one part of our ambitious housing agenda, all of which the LNP have opposed,” Mr Wallace said.
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