Under the Albanese Labor government, a record 547,300 migrants arrived in Australia in 2023, according to ABS data published today.
No government has ever brought as many migrants to Australia in a single year. As Australians struggle with finding a place to live, with congestion on our roads, and with pressure on services like seeing a GP, Labor’s record pace of migration is not sustainable.
Labor must take responsibility for their Big Australia policy. Australia experienced record migration in 2023 because this Labor Government issued a record number of visas.
In 2023, Labor issued:
- A record number of student visas (489,289)
- A record number of student visas to offshore applicants (342,180)
- A record number of Covid work visas despite the pandemic being over (136, 459)
- A record number of Temporary work visas (other) (405,817)
- 91,256 Temporary Graduate Visas
Before the election Anthony Albanese signalled that Labor would not back the return of mass immigration – but the numbers tell a different story.
Australians don’t trust Labor to manage immigration, and for good reason. It was Labor’s Ministerial Direction 99 that made it easier for criminal non-citizens to remain in Australia instead of being deported.
Labor also released hardened criminals from immigration detention, did not issue them with the correct visas and have not monitored them adequately. Community safety has suffered as a result.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has promised that by July 1 Australia’s migration levels will return to normal, but on current figures it is impossible to see how. O’Neil told Sunrise on 10 April: “When we get to the 1st of July this year, and I'm talking about in a few months’ time, we will be back in a normal year of migration. We will have halved our migration rate as a country.”
The Coalition will rebalance Australia’s migration program to maximise the economic benefits of immigration while managing the impacts on housing, congestion, the environment, and government services.