EDITORIAL: Albanese needs to do better on migration
The Albanese Government is under the pump on this issue because it has still not properly addressed the matter. It needs to lift its game, and quickly.
Have you been unlucky enough to require an emergency hospital visit lately?
It may well have been very busy, and yet you will no doubt have received excellent care.
And you might have noticed the different accents all around you.
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The aged care and construction sectors are also under pressure.
It is clear we need skilled migrants across a range of sectors.
And yet Australia’s migrant intake has become a major political issue. Perhaps the biggest.
It is likely to be driving the surge in support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.
Part of this relates to the size of the migrant intake, and there is also a concern around social cohesion in the wake of the Bondi massacre.
Net overseas migration — the difference between the number of people entering and leaving the country — spiked to about 556,000 in 2023 after international borders opened following the COVID pandemic.
The NOM fell to 309,000 last financial year, is projected to drop to 245,000 this financial year and fall to 225,000 in 2027-28.
The Coalition wants to link the migration intake to housing construction numbers.
One Nation has promised to slash the number to 130,000.
The Albanese Government is feeling the heat.
And so far it has been unable to land on a plan that all sides of the party can agree to.
That became crystal clear earlier this month when Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was forced to postpone an announcement on the Government’s policy following a reported Cabinet split.
But the thrust of the proposed policy is becoming apparent.
It was reported on Thursday that the policy would focus on new restrictions on international students and their family members, a six-month limit on visitor visas, moves to stop students shifting courses and a clamp down on onshore visa applications.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was grilled about the issue on Thursday.
Asked about reports his Government was slashing the annual refugee quota next financial year from 20,000 to 13,750 in response to One Nation’s rise, he was adamant that was not the case.
“No, we’re responding to the fact that post-COVID, when our borders were shut, there was always going to be a spike, and there was a spike in net overseas migration,” Mr Albanese responded. “We’ve reduced that by 45 per cent.”
He said a priority was “people who game the system” and talked up the importance of continuing skilled migration .
Migration is an issue for many because of the pressure it puts on infrastructure and housing in the cities.
It was that which SA Premier Peter Malinauskas effectively addressed on Thursday.
“If you accept that we need the labour, we don’t have a migration crisis. We’ve got a housing crisis,” he said.
The Albanese Government is under the pump on this issue because it has still not properly addressed the matter.
It needs to lift its game. Quickly.
