Key Points
- Opposition leader Angus Taylor has clarified his proposal to cut welfare recipients to permanent migrants.
- Advocates say claims that these are being used by newly arrived migrants are a "blatant lie".
Tax-paying permanent migrants will have to become citizens to access welfare payments, Opposition leader Angus Taylor has clarified.
In his first budget reply as leader, Taylor said the Opposition would claw back billions of dollars by cutting welfare — including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Jobseeker, Youth Allowance and the Family Tax Benefit — to non-citizens.
In 2025-26, 132,200 places or roughly 71 per cent of the permanent migration program, was reserved for skilled migrants.
Taylor was asked whether permanent residents, many of whom consider themselves Australians, would have to become citizens to receive benefits.
"Then pledge and become a citizen," he replied.
"Look at the end of the day, you become Australian when you pledge, as you do to our country, to our parliamentary democracy, to our system of law, to our freedoms, in the citizenship ceremony."
For many permanent migrants, this would require them to renounce their birthplace if dual citizenship is not permitted.
China and India, with one in five skilled migrants born in the latter, do not allow dual citizenship.
More than 3 million permanent migrants made Australia their home from 2001 to 2021, with more than half (59 per cent) becoming citizens, 2021 Census data shows.
Health Minister Mark Butler clarified that temporary visa holders have never had access to NDIS, so permanent residents would be the main people affected.
"What Angus Taylor has now said is ... you are not going to get the support of a government scheme to which you have contributed through your taxes and I think that's an extraordinary change," he said.
Butler said Taylor was trying to take a similar approach to Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, which has been growing in support.
Taylor's alternate vision for Australia, pitched on Thursday night, also included cuts to overseas migration, a boost in defence spending, sweeping tax reforms and a housing infrastructure fund.
'Blatant lie': Advocates hit back at welfare claims
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has labelled Taylor's claim around welfare access a "blatant lie", stating he was misleading the nation to fuel division.
The ASRC highlights that newly arrived migrants face waiting periods of up to four years before they can access payments such as Job Seeker, Youth Allowance and the Parenting Payment.
"In reality most of the restrictions he’s talking about already exist and there are lengthy wait periods for welfare payments," ASRC Deputy CEO Jana Favero said.
"The Coalition knows all this and is deliberately misleading Australians about how the welfare system already operates in order to whip up fear and division."
