Tony Burke to finally unveil Labor’s contentious immigration policies to cut net overseas immigration

Labor will on Thursday release its long-awaited immigration policy to reduce the number of new arrivals into Australia, just before the Prime Minister heads to the United Nations later in the week.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will detail the government’s contentious plans in a speech to the National Press Club titled: “The work of managing the migration program: who arrives, who stays, who leaves.”

Mr Burke had been due to announce the policy at the same venue a month ago but was forced to abruptly delay his appearance because of a disagreement inside Cabinet over the details.

The Nightly on Monday foreshadowed Mr Burke’s speech would finally occur this week, as well as recent Cabinet deliberations over whether Labor’s new policy should include more US-style green card visa lotteries.

Facing growing political pressure from One Nation and the Coalition, Labor is working to reduce the net overseas migration rate from the current level of about 300,000 people a year, to the Budget targets of 245,000 this financial year and 225,000 the following year.

Labor sources say the focus of Mr Burke’s speech is expected to be on how the government will reach its current migration targets, rather than lowering the ceiling on net overseas migration.

Earlier this week One Nation also announced its own policy, vowing to “reset Australia’s immigration system” by slashing the number of temporary visa holders and unlawful non-citizens by more than 750,000 over three years.

Under One Nation’s plan, once the temporary visa population is reduced by approximately 750,000 over three years, a net overseas migration ceiling of 130,000 per year would remain in place and be reviewed yearly.

More to come