Migrant mandate ‘might not work’: Labor

A Labor frontbencher has said a proposal to mandate that new migrants live in regional areas may not work.

Shadow Minister for Defence Richard Marles addressing the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

A Labor frontbencher has said a government proposal to mandate that new migrants live in regional areas for up to five years may not work despite rising concerns among opposition urban MPs about congestion.

Labor immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann called on Scott Morrison to release the policy in full before the opposition ­decided whether to back it.

The Australian yesterday ­revealed the Morrison government would consider a proposal to force new migrants to live in ­regional areas for up to five years, as part of a population plan to ­reduce congestion in Sydney and Melbourne

Opposition defence spokesman Richard Marles, who lives in the regional Victorian seat of Corio, said he did not think forcing migrants to live in the regions would work.

Labor MP Peter Khalil, who represents the Melbourne seat of Wills, said there were “too many people going into Melbourne and Sydney” and Australia needed to “find ways to incentivise people to go to regional cities”.

“People are really feeling the congestion,” he said.

Mr Marles said he was open to other proposals that would ­encourage migrants to settle in ­regional Australia, but it was not possible to mandate people to stay in the one place.

“I’m not sure that mandating new immigrants living in regional Australia is going to work … I’m not sure there is the power to ­actually mandate that they do live there,” he told Sky News.

Mr Khalil added on Twitter that he believed the government had not released enough detail on its policy and “they can’t compel people to go to the regions”.

Two government ­sources ­confirmed that a period of regional settlement, of up to five years, was a key plank of the ­population package put before the ­government.

It came with a requirement to locate in regional areas or capital cities other than Sydney or ­Melbourne, where the rate of ­migrant settlement has reached almost 90 per cent of new arrivals.

Some Coalition MPs have ­caveats on their support for the policy, however.

Liberal National MP Keith Pitt said while he was broadly supportive of the policy, he would not want migrants being mandated to live in his electorate of Hinkler.

Mr Pitt, who quit cabinet last week after the leadership spill, ­said his electorate had high ­youth unemployment and he ­did not think it could support ­more migrants “in its current ­circumstances”.

Home Affairs secretary ­Michael Pezzullo was asked whether current laws allowed authorities to enforce geographic visa conditions on ­migrants.

“As the act is currently expressed, there is no power to either seek ­enforcement or to seek ­compliance with those requirements,” he told parliament.