The Albanese Government will reveal plans to cut migration levels before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flies to the United States on Friday. Source: 7News.
The Home Affairs department is expected to crack down on family and dependent visas for international students. Onshore visa applications for skilled workers will be prioritised, as well as offshore visas for family reunions.
To clear the backlog of bridging visas, applications will also be fast-tracked.
With One Nation planning to cut 750,000 migrants from the national intake, and Labor’s talks with the Coalition falling through, the government has faced pressure to outline how it will reach its migration targets.
It comes after new polling revealed Australians want a crackdown on migration and for the country’s refugee intake to be slashed.
More than 60 per cent of Australians want a cut to the intake of refugees from 20,000 a year to 13,000, while 48 per cent want a ban on partner and family visas for international students.
Forty per cent of Australians say the government’s plan to reduce net migration from 301,000 to 225,000 is still too high.
Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has defended plans to massively scrap migration amid warnings it could smash businesses, News.com.au reports.
Senator Hanson has denied Australia’s GDP would be dealt a blow by One Nation’s plan to massively cut migration, stating she does not “trust these economists”.
She told News24 yesterday the policy was the “will of the people” and that she would be willing to have it ventilated by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office.
Experts have warned One Nation’s plan could lead to a technical recession, with devastating impacts on many sectors, including hospitality and agriculture.
On Monday, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned “major cuts that reduce skilled migration” would put the economy at risk.
The National Farmers Federation, meanwhile, said it would hurt regional Australia, where temporary workers “help put food on tables, with backpackers alone filling roughly one in seven farm jobs nationally”.
FULL STORY
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor’s plan for reduced migration set to be announced before US trip (By Thomas Burrow, 7News)
‘Will of the people’: Pauline Hanson defends migration plan amid economic fears (By Nathan Schmidt, News.com.au)
