Migration must work for a better Australia, not just a bigger one

The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers arrive for Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Coalition wants a better Australia not Labor’s Big Australia. We celebrate the contribution of migrants over many decades who have helped build the achievement of modern Australia.

But a better Australia requires migration to be at a pace that is manageable and sustainable, not out of control. In its first two years Labor has brought in almost one million new migrants – but, on the available data, has built only 265,000 houses.

In the last year of available data, Australia’s population grew by 660,000, or 2.5 per cent, with migration driving 83 per cent of that growth. There are now 2.8 million temporary visa holders in Australia; that’s one in every 10 people. As Australians struggle with finding a place to live, with congestion on our roads, and with pressure on services such as seeing a GP, Labor’s record pace of migration is not sustainable.

We need a rebalanced migration program that maximises the economic benefits of immigration while managing the impacts on housing, congestion, the environment and government services. Urgent action is needed.

Australia is in the midst of a housing crisis. Partly, this is because housing approvals and completions have fallen to decade lows under Labor – down 20 per cent in just two years. But it’s also because Labor has been running a Big Australia policy that was never part of the Albanese sales pitch prior to the 2022 election.

Immigrants themselves are not to blame for record migration or the housing crisis – that is Labor’s fault, for bringing people in without ensuring we have the housing to handle them. Now, because of Labor’ record migration intake, urgent action is needed to alleviate the housing crisis, and take pressure off our infrastructure and services.

That’s why a Peter Dutton government will lower net migration into Australia – with a particular emphasis on reductions in the first two years. This decisive action will help Australians get into a home and help our country get back on track.

Our policy has three main components. Firstly, a Coalition government will reduce permanent migration from 185,000 to 140,000 for two years, rising to 150,000 in year three and 160,000 in year four. At the same time, we will ensure there are enough permanent and temporary skilled visas for those with building and construction skills to support our local tradies to build the homes we need.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton and Dan Tehan hold a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Under Labor, through to September 2023 (the latest data), there were just 139 applications for permanent citizenship from plumbers, 658 from carpenters and 391 from electricians. Secondly, a Coalition government will return the refugee and humanitarian program planning level to the long-term average of 13,750 per annum, from Labor’s 20,000.

On a per capita basis, this will still leave Australia as one of the largest global recipients of refugees via the United Nations Refugee Agency. Thirdly, and crucially, the Coalition will reduce the numbers of foreign students at metropolitan universities, increase the student visa fee and apply it to foreign students who change education providers.

The Group of Eight universities will complain about any plan to cap the number of international students. But Sydney University, for example, booked $1.46bn in revenue alone from its international students – which explains the institution’s position. We want a system run with integrity. Sydney University has increased its foreign student intake to 47 per cent of all students because it can charge foreign students $150,000 for a typical three-year degree.

This is not sustainable. It is compromising the educational experience for domestic students, and making it nigh on impossible to rent a house in nearby suburbs.

That’s why the Coalition will increase student visa charges and work with tertiary education providers, especially the major metropolitan universities, to engineer an orderly decline in the number of foreign students in Australia.

Under Labor there are 80,000 student visa holders who are on to their third student visa or more. Some are on an eighth, ninth or tenth student visa, as a backdoor way to stay in Australia to work. We will end these sorts of rorts.

Anthony Albanese

Overall, these major policy changes – to the permanent migration program, to the refugee and humanitarian program, and to foreign student numbers – will allow a Dutton government to target a much lower migrant intake than Labor. And the reductions will be larger up front, because we have a housing crisis right now.

Specifically, the Coalition will target a net overseas migration level of 160,000 in our first year. This is compared with Labor’s target intake of 255,000 in 2025-26 and, equivalent to freeing up almost 40,000 additional homes for Australians.

There are now 80,426 failed asylum-seekers in Australia awaiting deportation, and 80 per cent still have work and study rights despite not having a legitimate claim to live here. Under Labor, 40,279 asylum-seekers arrived in Australia by plane and lodged a claim for protection. Only 15 per cent of these claims have been found to have merit. The Coalition will return non-genuine asylum-seekers to their country of origin.

Over five years the Coalition’s targeted reduction in migration intake is around one-quarter, relative to Labor, freeing up well over 100,000 additional houses for Australians. We are continuing to consult with stakeholders and experts to fine-tune all aspects of our final immigration policy.

Already the Coalition has provided far more details about our proposed approach to immigration than the Albanese Labor opposition ever did. We welcome an election fought on the issue of immigration because the Albanese Labor government has zero credibility on this topic.

Before the election Anthony Albanese actually signalled that Labor wouldn’t back the return of mass immigration – but is now letting in 1.7 million new migrants in just five years. Voters want a better Australia not Labor’s Big Australia.

Dan Tehan is shadow minister for immigration and citizenship.