Australia’s government will unveil a migration overhaul on Thursday, as Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke seeks to reduce net migration before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leaves for the United Nations in New York.
Burke will use a speech at the National Press Club to set out measures intended to bring net migration down from 305,000 to 225,000 over two years. The government is not planning to announce a direct cut to migration numbers.
His speech, titled “The work of managing the migration program: who arrives, who stays, who leaves”, follows weeks of uncertainty after an earlier address was cancelled last month.
The package is expected to include tighter controls on bridging visas, which have increased under Labor, and changes to the Administrative Review Tribunal aimed at reducing its backlog. The government also plans to reshape the skills programme to attract younger, higher-skilled migrants, a commitment made in the May budget.
Migration overhaul faces parliamentary obstacles
Labor will initially rely on regulatory changes because it does not have parliamentary support for its more far-reaching proposals. Legislation that could have restricted asylum claims made after several months in Australia and limited students’ ability to appeal decisions was not secured after the government failed to reach an agreement with Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.
Labor hopes those measures could be revived if the Coalition agrees to cooperate in the future. However, the opposition is concerned about facing attacks from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson if it works with the government on migration.
Burke has also been considering stronger deportation efforts involving the 77,000 unlawful non-citizens in Australia, as well as restrictions on partner and backpacker visas. Other proposals are intended to prevent people from moving between visas and make it more difficult to appeal decisions in order to remain in the country.
The minister delayed his announcement while the government developed its proposals, after Labor was forced to reverse course on tax changes announced in the May budget.
The timing of Thursday’s speech will bring further pressure, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics due to publish the latest migration figures on the same day.
One Nation has proposed cutting Australia’s stock of three million temporary visas by 750,000, limiting student visas to 100,000 a year for three years and sharply restricting family entry for students and skilled workers. Ms Hanson has argued that the economic impact of negative net migration would be temporary.
The Coalition is still finalising its own policy, while Mr Taylor has pledged to match migration with housing supply. Opposition housing spokesman Jonno Duniam criticised One Nation’s proposals as lacking detail, saying: “It’s great to throw out some numbers. Some of them [visas] are uncapped. Some of them are capped. We’re not sure which ones, what impact it will have on the economy. Sorry, that is not a robust piece of work.”
