The Coalition promises the biggest migration cut in Australian history, to 100,000 a year, and 650,000 fewer temporary visa holders
Angus Taylor's plan undercuts Labor's 225,000 target and borrows from One Nation. Labor and One Nation fired back within hours, and independent MP Monique Ryan called it a race to the bottom.
Angus Taylor unveiled the Coalition's migration policy on Tuesday and called it the biggest cut in Australian history. The Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review and the Guardian all reported the core of it: net overseas migration would fall to 100,000 a year, then rise to about 160,000 by the fourth year. Outlets differ on how long the 100,000 level would last, one or two years. The plan would also cut the stock of temporary visa holders by about 650,000 over four years, according to the Guardian, abolish temporary graduate visas, restrict secondary applicants among international students, require most visa applications to be made from offshore to stop what is known as visa hopping, and largely eliminate bridging visas. Reports say the permanent skilled program would stay capped at 185,000 places.
The numbers need context. Net overseas migration was 292,100 in the year to March, according to figures cited in the coverage, so 100,000 is roughly a two-thirds cut. Labor's target is 225,000, and on Monday in Perth the Prime Minister said the government is working over two years towards it and has already cut net migration by 45 per cent. One Nation's policy is a cap of 130,000 a year and 750,000 fewer temporary visas over three years. Mr Taylor's plan therefore sits between the two on some measures and below both on its first-year number, which is why the Herald described a three-way battle in which Labor and One Nation both attacked it.
The argument has moved from whether to cut to by how much. Mr Taylor told reporters, as the AFR reported, that the cut would not hurt the economy. That claim is contested. A Herald commentary headlined that the proposed cuts make zero economic sense, while AFR commentary called the plan the safest course and another piece said the Coalition had taken the beaten path to the middle. The AFR also reported that the education sector faces a bleak future as the parties unite on student cuts. A Herald column recalled that Andrew Hastie warned the party a year ago on this issue, concluding that Mr Taylor has a solid plan but Pauline Hanson has the voters. The Guardian's analysis went further, arguing the plan drags Australian politics to the right and that it is all upside for One Nation.
Net overseas migration is arrivals minus departures, so it falls when fewer people arrive or more leave. It reached a record 538,000 in 2022–23 and 309,500 in the year to March 2025, so 100,000 would be a fraction of recent levels, a result that only deep cuts in student and temporary-worker arrivals could deliver. That is why the policy concentrates on temporary visas rather than the permanent program, and why universities and employers who rely on them were the first to respond.
Reports at press time did not include costings or transition arrangements for current students. Immigration, the Herald said, is set to be a battleground issue at the next federal election.