Labor’s crackdown to contain surging migration

Anthony Albanese is under pressure to deliver his pledge to halve net migration over two years, with new figures on Thursday expected to reveal a spike in net overseas migration.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles launch the Albanese government’s migration strategy in December last year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese is under pressure to deliver on his government’s pledge to halve net migration over two years, with figures on Thursday expected to ­reveal net overseas migration ­exceeding 150,000 in the three months to September last year.

As the government scrambles to slash record post-pandemic ­migration, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor on the weekend will bring forward a crackdown on international students and visitor visa holders breaking the rules.

In a move to get ahead of Australian Bureau of Statistics data, the government suggested high September quarter overseas ­migration numbers were fuelled by international students arriving for the start of their second semester. The government also claimed the figures do not take into account actions implemented late last year to reduce net overseas migration.

Treasury is sticking by its net migration budget forecasts predicting the largest decline in Australia’s history outside of pandemics and world wars.

Ms O’Neil said tougher ­English-language assessments, a new genuine student test, applying “no further stay” visa conditions and targeting dodgy education providers would apply from Saturday. Record-breaking net migration of 518,000 in the last financial year triggered alarm that booming population growth was adding to the housing crisis. The December mid-year budget predicted net overseas migration would drop to 375,000 in 2023-24, and reach 250,000 in 2024-25.

The government’s crackdown, recommended in last year’s ­Migration Strategy, lifts English-language requirements for both student and graduate visas and weeds out international students attempting to come to Australia primarily for work. The new international students’ immigration test asks applicants to answer questions about their study intentions and economic circumstances and declare that they understand what it means to be a “genuine student”.

As the Coalition ramps up its attack on the government over the impact of high migration levels on housing and infrastructure, Ms O’Neil has ordered her ­department to suspend high-risk education providers from recruiting international students. The government on Wednesday said that in coming weeks high-risk providers, dubbed “visa factories and ghost colleges”, would be ­issued with warning notices and given six-month deadlines to comply or be banned from recruiting international students.

A fourth measure targeting visitor visas being used to subvert offshore student visa integrity checks will increase the use of “no further stay” conditions forcing international students to apply for the correct visa.

Ms O’Neil said “since September, the government’s actions have led to substantial declines in migration levels, with recent international student visa grants down by 35 per cent on the previous year”.

“The actions this weekend will continue to drive migration levels down while delivering on our commitments in the migration strategy to fix the broken system we inherited,” she said.

Border closures during the pandemic meant more migrants left than arrived in the year to June 2021, but numbers have since rebounded to reach record levels. In the September quarter leading into the pandemic, net ­migration was under 75,000 – or fewer than half the recent peak of 157,680 recorded in the March 2023 quarter.

The rate of net migration slowed to 121,780 in the three months to June of last year, but an acceleration in the September quarter would raise questions over Treasury’s forecasts for this financial year.