Two Crises, One Cause: The High Cost of Labor's Ideology

Fact: Albanese has lost control of migration and Australians are paying the price.

Australia has always been a proud migrant nation - built by people who chose this country, worked hard and made it their home. But migration must be managed, not left to drift. Under Anthony Albanese, it is completely out of control.

In just its first two years, the Albanese Government brought in one million migrants - 70 per cent higher than in any previous two-year period. Someone is arriving to live in Australia every 52 seconds. 

Albanese knew the numbers were exploding, and he kept his foot on the accelerator.

At the same time:

• Labor plans to bring in almost 1.8 million people over five years (2022–23 to 2026–27) with no serious plan for where they will live.

• While migration has ballooned, Australia has suffered a historic housing construction collapse. Under the Coalition we were building close to 200,000 homes a year. Under Labor, it has dropped to barely 170,000.

• Young Australians are watching the dream of home ownership disappear while rents surge, congestion worsens and pressure on hospitals and schools grows.

This isn’t bad luck. It’s the direct result of Anthony Albanese’s policies. He chose high migration. He failed on housing. He has pushed up power bills. And now families are paying the price.

Albanese promised cheaper power and better housing. Instead, Australians got higher bills, fewer homes and record migration. 

On every major test - cost of living, housing and migration - his policies are failing.

Albanese likes to talk about “planning” and “orderly migration”. The facts say something very different.

In his first Budget, Labor forecast net overseas migration of 235,000 in 2022–23. The actual number was 528,000.

For 2023–24, they again forecast 235,000. The outcome was 446,000.

Twice Albanese told Australians one thing and delivered something totally different. Twice his own forecasts were blown apart. That is not competent government – it is chaos.

Despite this, Labor has locked in a permanent migration program of 185,000 places for 2025–26, pretending everything is fine while families can’t find a rental, can’t get into the housing market and sit in traffic for hours each day.

This is Albanese’s “Big Australia” by stealth:

• more people,

• fewer homes,

• higher bills, and

• a Prime Minister who refuses to admit he’s got it wrong.

It fits a pattern: on energy, on housing, on migration, Albanese announces the headline and ignores the consequences. His policies are making life harder for the very people he promised to help.

The Liberal approach: put Australians first

In the coming weeks we will set out the principles that will guide our policy.

We have been absolutely clear: Australia’s migration numbers are far too high under Labor, and this must be fixed as a priority.

Our approach is the opposite of Albanese’s:

• Bring numbers down from Labor’s extreme levels. The current rate of net overseas migration is around 100,000 higher per year than before COVID on a 10-year average. That is unsustainable.

• Match migration to capacity. Housing, roads, hospitals and schools must drive migration settings, not the other way around.

• Fix the system and crack down on rorts: especially in parts of the student and temporary visa system that Labor has allowed to blow out.

• Protect social cohesion: strong borders, firm character tests and clear expectations around contribution, English and Australian values.

Albanese’s message is: “Trust me, it’ll be fine.”

Our message is: “Look at the facts and put Australians first.”

Anthony Albanese has lost control of migration, lost control of housing, and lost touch with the reality families are living with every day.

Your WA Federal team will keep calling this out and fight for a migration system that works for Australians, not against them.

Together, we can restore control, restore fairness and put Australian families first again.

Net Zero - DUMPED

The Coalition has dumped Net Zero and will put cheap, reliable power back at the heart of Australia’s economic future: not Labor’s ideology.

We will use all of our energy strengths to bring down prices, protect jobs and support industry, while reducing emissions in a way families and businesses can actually afford.

Under Labor, our children and grandchildren are staring down worse living standards than we inherited. That is the legacy of Labor’s energy experiment.

We have a duty to fix this: to get bills down, keep the lights on and cut emissions without killing jobs or closing industries.

Labor promised a $275 cut to power bills. Instead, since Labor was elected, electricity bills have surged by nearly 40 per cent.

Labor has tipped more than $75 billion into their energy schemes and what have Australians got? Higher prices and weaker reliability.

Labor’s proposed 2035 target would mean up to $530 billion in extra spending over the next decade - around $50,000 per household. That is a bill Australian families cannot pay.

Labor couldn’t even deliver on a $275 price promise. If they missed their 2025 price target, why would anyone trust their 2050 target?

Since 2005, Australia has cut emissions at almost double the rate of other developed countries. Australians have done the heavy lifting and have paid a heavy price and Labor does not care.

To reach Labor’s net zero path by 2050, we would have to double that rate again - cutting emissions by 17 million tonnes every year, up from the 9 million tonnes we’ve averaged over the last twenty years. That is a massive, expensive and unfair ask on Australian families, workers and industry.

Australia should be a country that uses Australian resources to help Australians first, not to tick boxes for international activists and inner-city elites.

The Coalition will back a genuinely balanced energy mix, using every technology that can deliver affordable, reliable power. That means:

• Renewables in the right place, where they stack up.

• Hydro and storage to support the system.

• Gas generation and new gas supply – unlocking exploration and infrastructure, and an east coast gas reservation scheme so Australian gas puts Australians first.

• No premature closure of coal plants that provide critical baseload power and keep the system stable.

• Lifting Labor’s ban on zero-emissions nuclear energy - which 19 of the world’s 20 largest economies are using or moving towards - so it can be a serious investment option, not ruled out by ideology.

This is the Coalition’s vision for Australia’s energy future: affordable power, responsible emissions reduction and a practical, balanced path that strengthens the country.