Treasury needs to keep its nose out of the immigration debate

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison. Picture: Hollie Adams

Scott Morrison must have a very bad memory. There was active consideration given to cutting the annual number of permanent ­migrants (currently 190,000 a year and a number that will ­remain the same for the next three years unless the government changes its mind) when he was ­immigration minister.

The decision was taken to keep the numbers steady because the aftermath of the mining boom meant that the number of temporary migrants was falling. This was probably a bad call; it’s just astonishing that Morrison doesn’t even recall the discussion.

Now it turns out that Peter Dutton proposed cutting the migrant intake in meetings late last year with his Cabinet colleagues, including Morrison. A lower figure of 170,000 was considered. But the outcome was that the committee, in its wisdom, decided to retain the intake as planned. There is no doubt Malcolm Turnbull, for reasons that are not entirely clear, is firmly ­opposed to any cut to the number of permanent migrants. It might be because former prime minister Tony ­Abbott is calling for such a cut, ­albeit a much larger one. ­Abbott has nominated a figure of 100,000.

But I guess if you live on the harbour in Point Piper, the urban stresses that mere mortals in Sydney and Melbourne face on a daily basis are hard to understand. But there are some “wets” in the ministry and others on the backbench who are also dead against cutting the migrant intake. They include members whose seats have large migrant populations. Note the new temporary grandparent visa has been a sop for those members. But note that migrants don’t necessarily support large migrant intakes — it’s a case of “pull up the ladder” for many.

The reality is the Turnbull government has two chances to win the next election: do something dramatic about electricity prices and cut the immigration program. Both decisions would differentiate the Coalition from Labor. At budget time, the government has a real chance to secure some political advantage by ­recasting the migration program, both in terms of numbers and composition.

It will be indicative of Turnbull’s ­maturity if he can put aside his war with ­Abbott and make changes to immigration that are in the national interest

In the meantime, he should advise Morrison to ignore Treasury on immigration: it is per-capita income that matters and the economic benefits that accrue after many years are largely snaffled by migrants themselves. It’s time Treasury was sidelined on this.