715,000 migrants expected in next two years — up from forecast 470,000
The federal government has been accused of creating a ‘big Australia by stealth’ after a leaked cabinet briefing note admitted 715,000 extra migrants were expected in the next two years.
NSW
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Australia will experience a massive surge in migration over the next two years —— around 715,00 people — further worsening the country’s growing rental crisis.
On Friday state and territory leaders were briefed that the May Budget will reveal net-overseas migration will top 400,000 people in the year to July.
The forecasts, which will be included in the budget, reveal the net increase in population from migration in the 2023-2024 year will be 315,000.
In October the government was predicting net overseas migration would only be 235,000 for both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
In January Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the number was likely to be much higher.
A leaked briefing note provided to national cabinet said the net increase in the migrant population of 715,000 people over two years “is higher than previously forecast due to the faster than expected return of international students and working-holiday makers following the reopening of borders”.
The revelation comes a day after Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil told the National Press Club, she was not “someone who advocates for a big Australia”, adding “what’s really important to me is that we’ve got these big national problems facing our country and we’re not getting the right people here through the migration system to help us address them.”
The government expects net overseas migration “to fall back towards historical trends of 235,000 per year, which is the assumed level in the medium term”.
Speaking after national cabinet on Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admitted “if you look at the numbers for this year, they’re high but that’s in recognition of the fact that the borders were closed previously, so the population is lower today substantially than it would have been in terms of the projections that were there prior to the pandemic.”
He also blamed the increase in the net-overseas migration numbers on the fact “Australians (are) not leaving in the numbers, and that’s continuing to be the case, not leaving to work overseas, to do the six month visitation that occurred. I did it as a backpacker, as a young fellow, so did most of my generation”.
The surge in migration over the next two years comes amid collapses in the building industry and a drop in approvals for new builds across Australia as well as home lending.
Last month Property Exchange Australia published a paper on Australia’s growing rental crisis which found 80 per cent of tenants in Sydney reported they are paying more than the asking price for their rentals
Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said the quiet release of the data showed the Albanese government was committed to creating a big Australia by stealth.
“What will be the impact on housing, on rents, on congestion and on interest rates?” he said. “The Australian people will suffer as a result given the size of these numbers.”
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