The Coalition is expected to reveal deep cuts to immigration today which the party says would maintain working holidaymaker places and prioritise skills as part of attempts to dent growing support for One Nation.
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, is expected to unveil the Coalition’s policy on Tuesday, after signoff from Liberal and National MPs in a special party room meeting due to convene this morning.
Liberal sources told Guardian Australia the Coalition’s target for net overseas migration (Nom) would be significantly below Labor’s new target, but not cut as much as One Nation, which wants to limit net arrivals to ۱۳۰,۰۰۰ people annually, after a brief initial period of net negative migration.
The Nine newspapers reported the Coalition would initially drop net migration to around ۱۰۰,۰۰۰ in the first year after the election before it rose again to a figure between One Nation’s ۱۳۰,۰۰۰ and Labor’s target of ۲۲۵,۰۰۰.
As previously announced by Taylor, the number of new arrivals will be linked to housing completions in Australia.
One Nation announced last month it would cut the number of temporary migrants in Australia by more than ۷۵۰,۰۰۰ over three years, targeting international students and family members of skilled migrants.
The leaked details of the Coalition’s plan have already sparked a bitter battle of words between the two conservative parties, with shadow home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, claiming One Nation’s policy would “trash the economy with absolute disregard”.
The Coalition’s plan is likely to contain the largest cuts in the first year, in an effort to make an immediate impact on Nom.
Foreign students and people overstaying their visas will be part of the Coalition’s crackdown, as well as measures to remove individuals in the country without a legal pathway to stay.
Last year Australia issued more than ۳۳۷,۰۰۰ international student visas, of which about ۴۵,۰۰۰ went to dependants or family members of the primary applicant.
Labor’s plan, outlined by the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, will see a series of policy changes to bring Nom down to ۲۴۵,۰۰۰ this financial year, and ۲۲۵,۰۰۰ in ۲۰۲۷-۲۸.
Most students will not be allowed to bring family members, and so-called visa hopping would be banned, limiting the changes students can make to their enrolment.
Nationals MPs have warned Labor’s plans to limit the number of working holidaymakers staying a second and third year in Australia would badly hurt regional industries including fruit picking, and have pushed for carve outs.
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Labor plans a ballot for backpackers wanting to stay beyond the initial first year, a measure designed to cut the number of temporary workers in the country. But regional hospitality and agriculture businesses have lobbied the Coalition to avoid cuts to its workforce.
Taylor is under pressure to stop and reverse an exodus of support to One Nation, as the party surpasses the Coalition and Labor in some opinion polls and its leader Pauline Hanson increasingly sets the terms for political and policy debate on immigration.
Hanson accused the opposition of trying to play catch-up with its immigration policy.
“The Coalition has turned up late to the grand final after both teams have headed back to the changerooms, waving a photocopy of One Nation’s immigration policy,” she wrote on X.
Duniam fired back on Tuesday when asked about the comments, accusing the minor party of announcing detail-light policies.
“[It’s] far from the grand final being over, and it’s hubristic to say the very least to suggest that One Nation are somehow in the top two teams to have won this battle on immigration,” he told News۲۴.
“I look forward to hearing more detail of their policy, particularly as they try and unpick ours, because that’s what I know they’ll do. But again, just another tweet, another X post. That’s how One Nation do business.”
Liberal MP Andrew Wallace confirmed the plan had been modelled to test its effect on the Australian economy.
“You can’t just slash immigration altogether,” he told Channel Nine.
“The Coalition’s plan on migration will be very, very carefully targeted towards ensuring that we have the right number of people coming into the country, but also the right skills.
“We’ve got to ensure that our farmers and our key industries have the right skills to be able to keep the country moving, and that’s what we’ll be focused on.”
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, who defected from the Nationals last year, claimed credit for the Coalition plan on Tuesday.
“I don’t want to really rubbish them. I’m really happy that One Nation are moving the agenda, and that’s why they’re all heading off in this direction,” Joyce told ۲GB radio.
“They’re chasing their old voters who’ve switched to One Nation.”
