Budget reply: Peter Dutton reveals Coalition policies on migration, housing, cost-of-living

Promising to get Australia ‘back on track’, the Opposition Leader says a Dutton government would slash migration by 25pc to free up more than 100,000 houses for Australians.

Peter Dutton will slash the ­permanent migration program by 25 per cent, ban foreign investors and temporary residents from buying existing homes and reduce the number of international ­students to free up more than 100,000 houses for Australians over five years.

In his third budget reply speech promising voters the Coalition will get Australia “back on track”, the Opposition Leader said a Dutton government would cut the permanent migration program from 185,000 to 140,000 to help fix the housing crisis.

With Labor’s pledge to build 1.2 million new homes by 2029 under threat, Mr Dutton accused Anthony Albanese of setting the “country on a dangerous course”.

Following a series of knife ­attacks and a surge in domestic ­violence murders, the former Queensland policeman said the Coalition would lead uniform knife laws across the country, toughen bail laws related to family violence cases and keep children safe online.

Mr Dutton pledged to reverse Labor’s swelling of the Australian Public Service, after the government announced an additional 36,000 bureaucrats in Tuesday’s budget. The 53-year-old said the ­Coalition would focus on priority areas such as Defence rather than “office staff in Canberra”.

The Liberal leader, who described Jim Chalmers’ budget as the “most irresponsible I’ve seen” – committed to repealing key planks of the Prime Minister’s Future Made in Australia Act, industrial relations reforms and renewables-only energy policy. Although he flagged more to come on the Coalition’s energy, tax, defence and Indigenous election policies, no further details were provided on Thursday night.

Promising to turbocharge the economy of key election state Western Australia and adopt a pro-mining mindset, Mr Dutton said that in addition to backing ­nuclear energy he would unlock gas across the country including in the Beetaloo Basin.

Setting up an election clash with Mr Albanese on immigration and housing, Mr Dutton said: “We believe that by rebalancing the migration program and taking decisive action on the housing ­crisis, the Coalition would free up more than 100,000 additional homes over the next five years.

“First, we will implement a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes in Australia.

“Second, we will reduce the permanent migration program by 25 per cent – from 185,000 to 140,000 for the first two years in recognition of the urgency of this crisis. The program will then increase to 150,000 in year three and 160,000 in year four.

“Third, we will reduce excessive numbers of foreign students studying at metropolitan uni­versities to relieve stress on rental markets in our major cities.

“We will work with universities to set a cap on foreign students.”

Amid rising concerns over congestion and housing shortages, the Albanese government this week decreased the permanent migration intake from 190,000 this financial year to 185,000 in 2024-25.

The Coalition would also lower the refugee and humanitarian program, which would remain one of the most generous in the world on a per-capita basis, to a planning level of 13,750.

Mr Dutton said he would ensure there were enough “skilled and temporary skilled visas for those with building and construction skills to support our local tradies to build the homes we need”.

“We will enhance the integrity of the student visa program by introducing a tiered approach to increasing the student visa application fee and applying it to foreign students who change providers,” he said.

“The usual CEOs and big businesses may not like this approach. But my priority is restoring the dream of home ownership.”

Labor ministers watch on as the Opposition Leader delivers his budget reply speech. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

After meeting a man in his 70s who was living in his car – and invoking the experience of Australians living in tents – Mr Dutton said the homeownership dream was slipping away.

Mr Dutton, who reiterated his policy allowing Australians to ­access up to $50,000 of their super to buy their first home, said: “I will never accept a situation where the only people who can afford to buy a home are people with rich parents. The money initially withdrawn from super will need to be returned to support retirement. But we need to do more.”

Mr Dutton, a former small business owner, announced the Coalition would extend the value of assets eligible for the instant asset write-off to $30,000 and “make this ongoing for small businesses”. He also addressed pressures on the workforce, saying the Coalition would allow older Australians and veterans to work without having their pension payments reduced, triple the work bonus from $300 to $900 a fortnight and lift the number of hours worked for those on student visas by 12 hours a fortnight.

“We will remove the complexity and hostility of Labor’s industrial relations agenda which is putting unreasonable burdens on businesses,” he said. “For example, we will revert to the former ­Coalition government’s simple definition of a casual worker and create certainty for our 2.5 million small businesses.”

Accusing the government of breaking its election promises of lowering energy bills annually by $275 and cheaper mortgages, Mr Dutton said Labor was “focused on the wrong priorities” such as last year’s defeated voice referendum.

Mr Dutton outlined a six-point economic plan that would rein in inflationary spending, cut red tape, simplify the IR system, provide lower taxes for all, enact fairer competition rules and deliver affordable energy.

After focusing on nuclear energy in his first two budget reply speeches, Mr Dutton committed to “bringing new gas supply into the system”, backing the annual release of offshore exploration and development in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, defunding the Environmental Defenders Office and speeding up approvals.

Amid rising crime rates, ­increasing anti-Semitism and Labor’s scandal-plagued release of 154 dangerous non-citizens, Mr Dutton said Australians were ­“unsettled by crime on our streets, ruptures to our social ­cohesion, and threats to our ­national security”.

Under a major community safety package, Mr Dutton said a Coalition government would harmonise knife laws across all ­­jurisdictions and give police powers based on Queensland’s Jack’s Law “to stop and search using detector wands”.

Following criticism of the Albanese government’s budget measures and response to family violence, Mr Dutton said that following the murder of Molly Ticehurst “our bail laws need to be tightened”.

“As a former police officer, the horrific scenes of beaten women and distraught children I encountered stay with me to this day,” he said. “As do the memories of taking women who were shaking with fear to shelters and safe homes and helping them relocate with their children to safety.

“Under a Coalition government I lead, (bail laws) will be tightened. Offences relating to partner and family violence generally fall under state and territory legislation. But there is also a role for the commonwealth.

A Dutton government would also make it an offence to use mobile phone and computer networks to cause an intimate partner or family member to fear for their personal safety, to track them using spyware, or engage in coercive behaviours.

The Liberal leader said the Coalition would increase investment in mental health, grow the pool of GPs and boost plunging bulk billing rates.

Mr Dutton, a former immigration, home affairs and defence minister, said voters could not trust Labor to manage migration, border security and national security. “It will take a Coalition government, once again, to stop the people smugglers and to deport criminals.

“It will also take a Coalition government to turn the tide of anti-Semitism afflicting our ­country. Anti-Semitism is not just a threat to one segment of our community. It’s a threat to our ­social cohesion and democratic values.”