Tony Abbott says Scott Morrison is ‘captured’ by Treasury ideology

Tony Abbott has hit back at Scott Morrison on the immigration debate, accusing him of being “captured by his department’s ideology.”

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton at the National Press Club in Canberra.

Tony Abbott has hit back at his former immigration minister Scott Morrison, accusing the Treasurer of being “captured by his department” after Mr Morrison this morning dismissed Mr Abbott’s calls to cut Australia’s migration numbers by 80,000 a year, saying the permanent intake was the same as it was when Mr Abbott was prime minister.

In an address to the Sydney Institute last night, Mr Abbott called for the Turnbull government to cut immigration levels from 190,000 people a year to 110,000, saying Immigration Minister Peter Dutton could “manage numbers down quite quickly” to help ease employment and housing affordability pressures.

Mr Morrison said Mr Abbott’s plan would cost the budget $4bn-$5bn over four years, and result in a lower proportion of skilled migrants.

Mr Dutton backed the Treasurer in a speech to the National Press Club this afternoon, saying the curren settings were right.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Mr Abbott’s calls were the “latest bomb” in the former prime minister’s war with Malcolm Turnbull.

However, Mr Shorten said he did have sympathy for those worried about temporary visa holders taking Australian jobs.

Mr Abbott told Sydney radio station 2GB this afternoon that he was not against immigration.

“I’m in favour of immigration. It’s the rate of immigration that’s the problem,” Mr Abbott said.

“I think Scott’s problem is that he’s been captured by his department.

“Treasury is always in favour of more migration.

“The point that I make is that we cannot let the Treasury’s accounting rules determine what is in our long term and medium term best national interest.”

Mr Abbott said he wanted the government to win the next election.

“Sure, people like Scott can say everything we’re doing now is right, but if you believe the polls, and it was the prime minister, let’s face it, who set such great store by the polls, if you believe the polls obviously we aren’t doing everything right, and if we expect to win the next election, if we want to have a fighting chance of winning the next election, some things have got to change, and this is something which we could well change which I think would be principled, pragmatic, and maybe even popular,” he said.

‘Settings are right’

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton at the National Press Club in Canberra.

Last week Mr Dutton told Sydney radio station 2GB that Australia must reduce its intake of migrants “where we believe it’s in our national interest”, prompting Mr Abbott to claim that Mr Dutton shared his concerns.

Addressing the National Press Club this afternoon, Mr Dutton said last weeks comments were similar to comments made by him and former prime minister John Howard many times before, “in terms of the way in which our numbers should be constructed and the policies should be delivered from year to year”.

“That is that our programs should act and operate in the best interests of our country,” Mr Dutton said.

“As I pointed out before, essentially our two-thirds, one-third mix of skills to non-skills within the visa program has continued as it did in the Howard days because there is economic benefit, as well as a social dividend. My judgment is we’ve got the settings right.”

Mr Dutton said skilled migration brought an economic benefit.

“There’s an economic benefit to bringing people in who are skilled, who will work and pay taxes and contribute to society,” he said.

“It’s not just a social dividend. There’s a significant economic dividend.

“We need to make sure that people are integrating into our society, they’re adhering to Australian law, they’re adhering to our values and we made that announcement last year around some of the citizenship changes which went to exactly that point: we want the migrants who came to Australia in the late 40s, early 50s out of the Second World War, war-torn Europe who educated themselves, worked hard, educated their children, contributed enormously to the success of this country that we enjoy today.

“They’re the stories we want to see repeated today and into the future. If we do that, there’s a

significant economic as well as social dividend from it.”

‘Latest bomb’ in Abbott-PM war

Mr Shorten said Mr Abbott’s call was the “latest bomb” in Mr Abbott’s war with Mr Turnbull when asked whether he agreed believed Australia’s migrant intake was too high.

“You’re referring to Mr Abbott’s latest bomb that he’s thrown at Mr Turnbull,” he said.

“Let’s talk about what Mr Abbott’s doing. This is just another part of the never-ending war between Abbott and Turnbull.

“This morning the Treasurer has torpedoed Mr Abbott’s idea. The Treasurer has said that Mr Abbott’s idea is going to cost Australia $5bn.

“We all know what this issue is about, it’s not about immigration, it’s about Abbott versus Turnbull.”

Mr Shorten said he did have “some sympathy” for people complaining that the rules around bringing in temporary visa workers taking jobs of Australians are too slack.

“Labor’s proposing to tighten up that and we want to increase the cost of those visas so employers are forced to hire Australians,” he said.

“The other thing I want to do is save TAFE. I want to make sure that young Australians when they finish school can get an apprenticeship, so I think there’s tightening up we can do around the visa requirements, but as for the rest of the debate, Morrison’s torpedoed Abbott, Abbott’s tried to ambush Turnbull, it’s just another day at the office for the LNP.

“They’re just obsessed about themselves, they’re just in it for themselves and they’re not talking about the real issues which affect working families.”

Mr Shorten said he would respond to government policy on immigration, rather than “Mr Abbott’s thought bubbles”.

“Before we take what Mr Abbott says seriously, he had his go at being Prime Minister, his own party didn’t even like him in that job, so I’m not going to give Mr Abbott more attention than the rest of the government,” he said.

Abbott wrong: Morrison

Mr Morrison said the permanent immigration intake remained the same as it was when Mr Abbott was prime minister and Mr Morrison was his immigration minister.

“I don’t recall at any time there was any discussion that that should be lowered at that time and I do recall housing affordability being a significant issue at that time,” Mr Morrison said.

“Let’s look at what the actual facts are. The level of permanent migration to Australia has been the same since about 2011, 2012. There has been no change. In fact, last year, it actually didn’t meet the cap. It was about 7000 or 8000 less than what the planned level was.”

The Treasurer said population growth had been driven by temporary migration, and not by permanent migration, with increases in the numbers of international students and people coming on extended holidays.

“This is what has been driving the population growth numbers up, not the level of permanent immigration,” he said.

“I think it is important you manage population growth well and that’s why, as a government, we’ve done things like extending the waiting list for welfare for people who come as migrants.

“People should come to make a contribution, not take one. That’s the immigration policy we’re running.

“Under our government, what we’ve done is we’ve tightened the controls and restrictions around temporary work visas on 457s. Bill Shorten set the world record in Australia for issuing 457 visas. They are much lower today than they were under Bill Shorten.”

Mr Morrison said any reduction in permanent immigrants would also reduce the proportion of skilled migrants.

“We had to work hard to keep the permanent intake at two-thirds being skilled,” he said.

“If you did what Tony Abbott suggests, then you would only reduce the proportion that was skilled migration and you’d have a bigger proportion which was family migration which ultimately gets more dependent on welfare.

“I can understand why people would think, ‘If you cut the permanent intake, all our problems are solved.’ I’ve had quite a bit of experience in immigration. You run a program with strong borders, tight controls and you focus it on skills.

“That’s the program I ran for Tony Abbott. That’s the program Peter Dutton is running for Malcolm Turnbull. That’s the program I believe delivers for Australia.”

Asked to account for his $4bn-5bn figure, Mr Morrison said skilled permanent migrants, in particular, paid taxes and made a net contribution to the economy.

“Permanent migrants, in particular skilled migrants, they come, they start businesses, they get jobs, they pay taxes, they invest in their communities, they run sports clubs, they make things happen. Permanent migrants have been a key source of Australia’s prosperity for centuries,” he said.

Asked if Mr Abbott and NSW senator Jim Molan — who warned in his maiden speech last week that Australia “may have already reached its sustainable immigration limit” — were trying to change the Coalition’s policy on immigration, Mr Morrison said he did not know what Mr Abbott was trying to do, but Senator Molan was a friend.

“Jim’s comments I think were quite different to the former prime minister’s,” Mr Morrison said. “I think the debate needs to be informed by the facts. The facts are simple. People who come as skilled migrants to the country add value to the country.”