Coalition pledges to cut net overseas migration to 100,000 for two years

Left · 2The Liberal-National Coalition has unveiled a plan to bring net overseas migration (NOM) down to 100,000 a year for two years, mainly through cuts to temporary, graduate, humanitarian and bridging visas. 1 2 Left · 2Opposition Leader Angus Taylor announced it on Tuesday 6 October, calling it "the biggest cut to immigration in the history of this country". 2 1 Left · 1According to ABC News, NOM would stay at 100,000 for the first two years, then rise to 130,000 in the third year and 160,000 in the fourth. The plan would cut the temporary migration intake by about 650,000 over four years. 1

Left · 2Humanitarian intake would be halved to 10,000 a year. International student commencements would be capped at 240,000, and most dependants would be barred from accompanying students. Temporary graduate visas would be scrapped apart from limited pathways for PhD, health and education graduates and those at regional universities. 1 2 Left · 1ABC News reports that bridging visas would fall from about 414,000 to 20,000, with temporary visa holders forced to leave Australia to lodge a new application. It also reports a 30-day limit on onshore asylum claims and the scrapping of Labor's caps on second- and third-year working holiday maker visa extensions, replaced by higher fees. 1 Left · 2The plan would increase skilled migration. ABC News says it includes about 60,000 more temporary skilled visa holders and 15,000 new skilled project visas a year. The Independent says temporary skilled visas would expand by 100,000. Both say a backlog of construction worker applications would be prioritised or cleared. 1 2

Left · 2Taylor said Australia needs "breathing space" after several record years of migration and that the plan would take pressure off roads, schools, infrastructure and housing. He said he was confident it would be budget-neutral and that the Coalition had worked with the Parliamentary Budget Office. He cited average tax contributions of $7,000 to $14,000 for student and graduate visa holders against more than $30,000 for temporary skilled visa holders. 1 2 Left · 2No modelling of the wider economic impact has been released, and ABC News says costings will come closer to the 2028 federal election. 1 2 Left · 1Nationals leader Matt Canavan said the measures would "take back our country" from temporary migrants he accused of undercutting Australians' wages. 1

Left · 2One Nation has proposed cutting 750,000 temporary visas. ABC News says this would produce a negative NOM for three years, and The Independent says One Nation recently outpolled the Coalition in surveys. Leader Pauline Hanson said the Coalition had arrived "late to the grand final" and that both major parties had been "dragged kicking and screaming" into the debate. 1 2 Right · 1AFP, carried by Arab News, says the Coalition has slumped into third place in opinion polls and that polls show One Nation has become Australia's most popular party in recent months. 3 Left · 2The plan goes further than Labor's targets, though the outlets describe them differently. ABC News says Labor targets 245,000 for this financial year and 225,000 the next. The Independent says Labor set a target last month of 225,000 by 2028. ABC says NOM fell to 292,100 in the year to March, while The Independent cites 306,000 in the year to 30 June 2025. 1 2

Left · 1ABC News also reports that Labor's own changes took effect last week. They largely bar international students from bringing family and cap working holiday-maker ballot places at 45,000 for the second year and 5,000 for the third. 1 Right · 1AFP adds that Labor's interior minister Tony Burke announced plans last month to curb "visa hopping", tighten rules on students and working holiday makers and crack down on overstayers. It quotes Hanson on X saying "Australians cannot trust Liberal or Labor to follow through on their promises". 3