Cut the numbers. Raise the standards. Put Australians first.

Australia’s migration system is no longer working for Australians. And Australians are paying the price.

You see it when you try to rent a home in Perth. When you wait weeks for a GP appointment. When you sit in traffic on the Mitchell Freeway.  And you hear it when your children or grandchildren tell you they have given up on the Australian dream of owning their own home.

Under Anthony Albanese, Australia’s population has grown by a record 1.9 million people. Around 80 per cent of that growth has come from overseas migration. Labor has allowed migration to run ahead of housing, infrastructure and essential services. And ordinary Australians are paying the price for its failure to plan.

That is why the Coalition has released our Australia-first Migration Plan, delivering the largest cut to immigration in Australian history.  Our message is simple: Cut the numbers. Raise the standards. Put Australians first.

Labor has lost control

Under Labor, net overseas migration peaked at more than 550,000 people a year.  It is still running at around 300,000 - well above Labor’s own target of 225,000.  There are now almost three million temporary migrants in Australia, approximately one million more than when the Coalition left office. Almost one in three Australians aged 25 to 29 is a temporary visa holder, while youth unemployment is close to 11 per cent. And in August, the number of people on bridging visas reached a record 440,000.

Meanwhile, Australia is building only around 170,000 homes a year. Labor keeps bringing more people into Australia without ensuring there are enough homes, services or infrastructure to support them. It is a completely unsustainable approach, and Australians have had enough.

Our plan: bring migration back under control

A Coalition Government will cut net overseas migration to 100,000 a year in 2028-29 and 2029-30.  That is less than half Labor’s target and approximately one-third of current migration levels. Migration will then be limited to 130,000 in 2030-31 and 160,000 in 2031-32. After that, migration will be capped below the number of new homes completed each year. The Housing Minister will report annually to Parliament on housing completions, directly informing future migration levels.

For the first time, migration numbers will be explicitly tied to our capacity to build homes.

Our plan will also reduce the number of core temporary visa holders by approximately 650,000 over four years. Unlike Labor, we will not simply announce targets and hope for the best. Most of these changes can be made through existing regulations. The powers are already there. Labor has simply failed to use them.

Ending the temporary visa free-for-all

The biggest changes will be to temporary migration, where Labor has allowed the system to spiral out of control.

First, we will abolish Temporary Graduate Visas from 1 July 2028.  These visas have grown from around 37,000 a decade ago to approximately 270,000 today. Too often, international education has become a pathway to extended residency rather than a pathway to genuine skills. Existing visa holders can complete their visas, with transitional arrangements for certain students in health, education, research and regional universities. Genuinely skilled graduates can still apply for skilled visas.

Second, we will end visa hopping. Second and subsequent temporary visa applications will generally need to be made offshore. When a temporary visa expires, people should leave Australia and apply from overseas, rather than using repeated applications to remain indefinitely. Onshore permanent visa applications will remain available.

Third, we will restore integrity to international education. International students accounted for 31 per cent of university students in 2024.

Under our plan, new international student commencements will be reduced to approximately 240,000 in 2029 - 55,000 fewer than Labor’s 2027 allocation. Most international students will no longer be able to bring partners and family members as secondary applicants. Regional campuses of regional universities will be protected, while reductions will focus on metropolitan universities, particularly Sydney and Melbourne.

Fourth, we will reduce the humanitarian intake from Labor’s 20,000 places to 10,000 annually. We will also tighten work rights for asylum seekers who fail to lodge protection applications within 30 days of arrival.

Fifth, we will remove merits review in the Administrative Review Tribunal for specified temporary visa, offshore and character decisions.

The message is clear: a temporary visa must mean temporary.

Fewer people. Higher skills.

Australia needs a migration system that serves our national interest, not one that simply increases population numbers.  That means prioritising skilled workers who fill genuine shortages. We will expand access to higher-paid construction trades under the Skills in Demand visa, removing Labor’s union-backed restrictions. We will introduce a Skilled Project Visa for major projects with genuine workforce shortages. And we will establish an AUKUS and Five Eyes visa for skilled nationals from trusted partner countries working in areas including nuclear propulsion, advanced cyber and defence capabilities. This is particularly important for Western Australia and our growing role in AUKUS.

We welcome people who bring the skills Australia needs, contribute to our economy and embrace our values. But migration must be controlled, properly managed and in Australia’s national interest.

Protecting regional Western Australia

Our plan recognises that regional Western Australia has different workforce needs from Sydney and Melbourne. We will retain important regional migration arrangements, including the PALM scheme and Designated Area Migration Agreements. We will reverse Labor’s ballot system for second and third-year Working Holiday Makers. We will encourage backpackers into regional Australia through visa fee incentives and develop a new Agriculture Visa.

Our farmers, regional businesses and tourism operators should not suffer because Labor has mismanaged migration nationally.

Australians deserve better

Australia is a proud migrant nation. Migration has helped build our country and will continue to play an important role in our future. But Australians are entitled to expect a government that puts their interests first. They should not be priced out of housing, struggle to access essential services or watch infrastructure fall further behind because Labor refuses to control migration.

Anthony Albanese has had more than four years to fix this problem. Instead, Labor has made it worse.

The choice could not be clearer.

More of Labor’s mass migration, housing pressure and broken promises.

Or a Coalition Government with a credible plan to restore control, protect our living standards and put Australians first.

Cut the numbers. Raise the standards. Put Australians first.