The Morrison government will unveil long-promised changes to Australia’s visa system on Tuesday, enacting a plan to force migrants to spend years in regional areas before they can move to a city like Sydney or Melbourne.
The move, advocated by the Nationals and key lobby groups like the Farmers’ Federation, is part of the government’s bid to tackle population growth in the country’s congested capitals while stimulating regional areas crying out for more labour.
Scott Morrison’s newly appointed “congestion-busting” minister for population and cities, Alan Tudge, will detail the plan at a speech in Melbourne later on Tuesday.
The visas will require migrants to live outside the cities for up to five years, using a “combination of encouragement and some conditions”, Mr Tudge told ABC Radio ahead of the speech.
The minister would not specify what punishments might apply to migrants who breach their conditions.
Inset: Alan Tudge. Photo: Boxing Day sales at Sydney's Pitt Street Mall. Source: AAP
“Nearly every visa has some conditions attached to it,” he said.
The government’s proposal relates to skilled visas, but Mr Tudge said there was an ongoing discussion about moving more of the humanitarian refugee intake to rural areas as well.
Migrants in the bush
There are already several visas designed to bring migrants to regional areas, but Home Affairs data shows one in 10 who come on such schemes choose to leave for a city within 18 months.
The country welcomed 4,766 skilled workers to regional areas in 2016-17, but almost half settled in Perth. The government removed Perth as a “regional” destination in November but Darwin, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart remain eligible.
Under some of the other population measures, Canberra will work with the states to implement new infrastructure planning and population controls to claw back some of the $25 billion year in lost economic activity due to city congestion, according to The Australian.
The magic number
Asked if Australia should set a population target, Mr Tudge said there was no need to set “an exact number”.
He said there needed to be “controlled population growth” and flagged future announcements on high-speed train lines “early next year”.
