Liberal MP Sussan Ley has sensationally taken aim at the prime minister as the number of migrant arrivals looks set to sail past the government’s estimate and surpass 400,000 people, asking “where are they going to live?”
Figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday and cited by the SMH showed that 388,000 migrants arrived in the first nine months of 2023-24, only 7000 people short of the government’s number of 395,000 people forecast for the 12 months.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Prime minister under fire over migration blowout.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Migration for the full 2023-24 financial year is now expected to pass 400,000 people.
The figures also revealed that Australia’s population passed 27 million people in the first three months of the year.
Overseas migration, which remains a hot button issue among Australians, saw a record high of 528,000 in 2022-23, following the pandemic — a number the government said it plans to halve to 260,000 by 2024-25.
The Coalition intends on cutting the number even further to 160,000.
On Friday, Ley joined Sunrise’s Nat Barr and Minister for Education, Jason Clare, for Hot Topics, where she slammed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over the migration blowout.
“My question to the prime minister is you’re bringing in all these people, prime minister, where are they going to live?” Ley asked.
“We’re now going to hit 400,000 migrants this year, second year in a row, maybe 500,000 (people). So the government’s not doing what they said they would do with the overall migration number.
“So if you’re struggling to find a house or your rents are going up, this is why.”
Clare agreed the migration numbers were too high, saying he would put a cap on international students, as part of a plan to bring the numbers back down.
“Part of how we do it is by putting a cap on the number of international students — that’s what I’m doing,” Clare said, referring to his plan to scale back international student enrolments at public universities.
“One part is international students — we’ve seen students come back very quickly after the pandemic. Part of it is backpackers. Part of it is people overstaying their visas. They’re the three big parts of this number,” Clare said.
“I’m in control of international students … I want to put that cap in place so we can bring the number of international students back to pre-pandemic levels,” he added.
However Ley refused to say if the Coalition would back Clare’s plan to cap international student enrolments.
“There needs to be a very careful discussion about the effect that has on different communities and different sectors,” Ley said.
“Remember, migration is an overall number, as Jason (Clare) said, with different components, and overall the government has to get this right. Housing for Australians is critical.”
Following the release of the figures last night, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton took aim at the numbers.
“This is why Australians can’t afford to buy a home,” he said in a statement.
“It’s why the rents have gone through the roof and it’s why we find ourselves in a position that we do today with people living without secure accommodation.”