“The latest ABS data confirms over 1,000 net new migrants have arrived in Australia each and every day under the Albanese government. Australians cannot have confidence in this government when it comes to controlling migration,” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today, Australian Bureau of Statistics’ data on permanent and long-term arrivals and departures for December 2024 reveals:
- From June 2022 to December 2024, net permanent and long-term arrivals was 1,007,600.
- Net permanent and long-term arrivals have now exceeded 1,000 per day since June 2022, the first full month of the current federal government.
- Net permanent and long-term arrivals in 2024 was 444,480, the second highest on record, following 2023’s number of 447,790.
“The federal government’s promise to rein in out-of-control migration has been broken yet again and there is no end in sight. Australians struggling to get by are being smashed by the effects of unplanned migration, such as rising housing and rent costs, and crumbling infrastructure and services,” said Mr Wild.
“Australians are, by nature, welcoming and tolerant, and migration has and will always play a important part in the success of Australia. However, the government has taken advantage of our good nature by overseeing record migration levels without a plan for where and how new arrivals will live.”
“The federal government’s unplanned migration program has fuelled a perfect storm of high inflation and falling living standards, with the country experiencing seven consecutive quarters of negative per capita economic growth,” said Mr Wild.
“The federal government’s inability to rein in Australia’s unsustainable migration program has meant that while the size of the nation’s economic pie may be growing on paper, each Australian is being left with an even smaller slice.”
Housing approvals for the calendar year 2024, at 170,719, was only 38 per cent the number of net migrant arrivals for the corresponding period (at 444,480).
(Source: ABS, IPA)
“The number of new houses approved remains far below the number of new arrivals, meaning the great Australian dream of owning a home is being denied to the next generation of Australians and new migrants alike,” said Mr Wild.
“A sustainable migration strategy must be planned for, have the consent of the community, and not overstretch critical social infrastructure like housing, schools, roads, and hospitals. The government’s approach to migration has persistently failed on all three counts,” said Mr Wild.
“Despite Australians being in a prolonged recession at an individual level and society being more fractured and divided, the federal government shows no sign of bringing migration down to a more sustainable level.”
To download the IPA’s previous research click here.
