SUBJECT | LABOR'S BIG AUSTRALIA | 24 March 2025
TOM ELLIOTT
Dan Tehan, good morning.
DAN TEHAN
Morning Tom, great to be with you again.
ELLIOTT
So do you, do you have a policy on immigration numbers like, would you share with us? You know, if you're elected as the next government of Australia, how many people do you, will let come into the country each year?
TEHAN
Well, we've already outlined the permanent numbers that we will allow in. We've said that we would drop that back to 140,000 for the first two years for Coalition government, and then step it up to 150 and 160. And when it comes to the refugee and humanitarian program, we'll take it back to the long term level of 13,750. So we’ve been very clear that we will reduce the numbers when it comes to the permanent intake and when it comes to the net overseas migration, and that's the number, the overall number, and we have to remember that so far, in a bit over two years, Labor have let in over a million people during a time when we've got a housing and rental crisis. We'll wait and see what the budget numbers say, and then we will outline clearly our policy and Tom, I'll just give you the reason why, very simply, so your listeners can understand. Last year, the Prime Minister said that net overseas migration would drop to 260,000 and he said that on two occasions, and basically said that that's what the government would deliver. In December, that figure was upgraded to 340,000, so within the base, the basis of six months, they'd let in 80,000 more than they'd forecast. So we've got to wait and see what's in the Budget papers on Tuesday, and then we can see how big is the mess that's been made, and then how we need to fix it.
ELLIOTT
But why do you need to see that? Why don't you just pick the number that you think is appropriate for Australia and stand by that? Let's say it's, let's say it's 100,000 to make the math simple. So next year, you have, if you're elected, 140 permanent, 14,000 refugees. That's 154 plus another 100,000 temporary, like students and visitors and so forth. That's 254 why not just say the number and not worry about what the government says?
TEHAN
Well because we've got to be very responsible in the way we go about this, and we've got to understand exactly what the problem is and how we can sensibly go about fixing it. It's a bit like if you were taking over a small business, before you would make any serious decisions you would go in and make sure you've looked at the accounts, see how it's operating, and then start to make some some calculations as to how you're going to try and turn things around. Every forecast that the government has put forward on net overseas migration they've missed, and they've missed considerably, so we have to wait and see what's in the Budget papers, and then we can say, okay, this is what we can sensibly do to get the number down to a sustainable level so that we can start building the houses that we need, that we can start making rents affordable, so we can start dealing with congestion and making sure that our immigration policy is in balance with everything else we want to do with our local communities. So it's the sensible thing to do, because otherwise we could pick a number and Labor's number could be in the budget so high, again, that it's going to be very unrealistic in the space of about six to nine months to be able to turn that around.
ELLIOTT
Can we at least assume then that whatever the number is in the budget tomorrow night, that Jim Chalmers will deliver at 7.30 to 8.00 o'clock, that your response to it will be a lower number?
TEHAN
Absolutely.
ELLIOTT
Okay. Thank-you for your time Dan Tehan there Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.
ENDS
