Australia’s annual immigration intake fell from 183,608 in 2016-17 to 162,417 in 2017-18, according to latest government figures.
Australia took in 20,000 fewer permanent migrants than in the previous financial year and this number is likely to go down further after Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed his government is working with the states and looking at cutting immigration in major cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
Speaking with presenter Alan Jones on Radio 2GB on Wednesday morning, PM Morrison confirmed the approach to immigration was being revised following the calls to cut the migrant intake, especially the one made by New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
On Wednesday, when asked if he will reduce the immigration intake, PM Morrison said he was working on immigration policy being built from the ground up.
“Our immigration policy is going to be built up from the ground up. You have heard what Gladys has been saying in the New South Wales. You have heard what is being said in the other states.
“What our immigration policy should be is the sum of the number that our infrastructure can support, and instead of doing a top-down approach, what I am doing with the states and the territories now is, ‘you tell me how many people can you accommodate in your state’ and our immigration numbers will be based on how many people that state can support infrastructure and services.
Mr Jones interrupts the Prime Minister at that point and says people will say that means an immigration cut.
“Well, we will do the sums and in Sydney and Melbourne I think that’s true,” Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison who was in the northern part of Queensland on Wednesday though said there was a demand for new migrants outside Sydney and Melbourne.
He said there were a demand and a need for population growth in areas of Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and other territories.
“They say they can take an extra 10,000 people here in Rockhampton. In Adelaide, they want more people and more jobs. In Tasmania, they are increasing their population and they want more,” he said.
Gladys Berejiklian at a Diwali fair in Sydney. Source: Twitter
“Halve overseas migrant intake”
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian recently set up an expert panel to build the case for a lower immigration policy to take to the Federal Government next year.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that the current high rates of population growth are putting even more pressure on our infrastructure," she said in a statement.
"It is now time for us to take stock and get ahead."
She renewed her call to halve the overseas migrant intake to around 45,000 a year and also wrote to PM Morrison requesting a special COAG meeting on population in 2019.
An Indian family at a citizenship ceremony in Adelaide. Source: Supplied
“NSW and Victoria receive maximum migrants”
New South Wales receives the highest number of migrants every year. In 2017-18, 32.2 per cent of the total migrant intake or 52,251 migrants of 162,417 given permanent residency visas chose to settle in NSW, followed by Victoria (41,005).
Together, the two states take in more than half of the migrant intake every year.
The largest source countries of migrants for 2017–18 were:
- India with an outcome of 33,310 places (20.5 per cent of outcome), down from 38,854 places in 2016–17;
- China with 25,145 places (15.5 per cent), down from 28,293 places; and
- The United Kingdom with 13,654 places (8.4 per cent), down from 17,038 places
Australia’s annual migrant intake cap for 2017-18 is 190,000 however the government has no obligation to fill the quota.
