Australia's opposition vows 'biggest cut to immigration' in history: 650,000 temporary visas cut, net migration down to 100,000

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Australia's conservative opposition coalition on Tuesday unveiled what it called the "biggest cut to immigration" in the country's history. The Liberal-National Coalition's migration policy, announced by Opposition Leader Angus Taylor at a press conference in Sydney, would cut temporary visas by 650,000 over four years and bring annual net overseas migration down to 100,000 for two years — about one-third of its current rate — rising to 160,000 in year four.

Under the plan, humanitarian visa places would be halved to 10,000, international student enrolment would be cut to 240,000, and the temporary graduate visa program — which lets students live, study and work in Australia after graduation — would be abolished. The coalition would add 100,000 temporary skilled visas and clear a backlog of construction-worker visa applications.

"What we are proposing today is the biggest cut to immigration in the history of this country," Taylor said. "It will be putting Australia first and it will be putting our national interest first."

The proposal comes amid growing anti-immigration sentiment driven by high living costs and housing shortages. The coalition is under pressure from the far-right, anti-immigration One Nation party, which has outpolled it in recent surveys and pledged to cut temporary migration by 750,000 over three years.