Australia’s population will be smaller than predicted by the former federal government with proposed changes to attract “the right kind of migration”, the prime minister says.
Anthony Albanese has been questioned about the impact of higher migration on a strained housing sector amid an uptick in international students arriving to Australia.
The federal opposition has accused the government of having “no plan” to address the problem.
“There are 60,000 students from China enrolled in Australian tertiary institutions, that’s a good thing, that creates jobs and economic activity,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Tasmania on Saturday.
Pandemic border closures mean many of those students had been studying remotely.
“Normally there would be 60,000 coming and 60,000 going, what’s occurred here is there’s just 60,000 coming because they’ve all been doing their courses online,” he said.
“The migration to Australia is still … much lower than it would have been and was predicted by the former government.”
But Opposition immigration spokesperson Dan Tehan has accused the government of having no plan to deal with the increased numbers and he’s questioned where new migrants will live, given a developing housing crisis in Australia.
“That is the question that the government must answer,” he told ABC TV, which on Saturday reported Australia’s migrant population is expected to have grown by more than 700,000 across 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The prime minister was in Tasmania to announce funding for a new waterfront stadium, and was heckled about priorities amid cost-of-living pressures.
“People don’t need a stadium”, someone interrupted with off-camera during the press conference.
Affordable housing would be part of the Hobart development, Mr Albanese said.
“Why shouldn’t someone in social or affordable housing have access to this unbelievable view right here in this great city of Hobart?” he said.
Questioned on whether migration changes will mean “a big Australia by stealth”, Mr Albanese said the population would be less than predicted.
“There’s been a pandemic, that meant the borders were closed, that meant people weren’t coming in,” he said.
“If you look at the measures … it will actually mean less migration than was envisioned, but it will be the right migration, the right migration that makes the right contribution to the country.”
Under a major overhaul of Australia’s “broken” system, wages for temporary skilled migrants will be raised by about $16,000 and thousands will be eligible for permanent residency.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil announced the reforms in a National Press Club address on Thursday.
“These two changes show we’re serious about the reform agenda ahead,” she said.
“We are a truly great country with a fundamentally broken migration system, so just imagine what we will be able to achieve when we get this powerful engine working again in the national interest.”
A review found the migration program “not fit for purpose”, failing to attract the most skilled people and not giving businesses efficient access to workers.
Source: AAP
