“The latest ABS data confirms the federal government is simply not interested in delivering on its promise to reduce Australia’s record migration surge, and will dramatically overshoot its net overseas migration commitment,” said Dr Kevin You, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest migration data shows the federal government has already exceeded its migration target for the latest full financial year. According to the data:
- The net migration intake from July 2023 to May 2024 was 445,510, well ahead of the total FY24 level the federal government committed in the budget in May of 395,000, with a month’s data still to be released.
- Year to date net permanent and long-term arrivals between January and May 2024 was the highest on record at 242,750. This exceeded the previous record (set in 2023), which was 208,090, by 17 per cent.
- The May 2024 monthly net intake was the second highest May on record at 25,940, behind May 2023, when net intake was 31,310.
- This calendar year, on average, 1,607 migrants have arrived in Australia each and every day. This is more than one new net new arrival every minute.
“The Prime Minister’s commitment to halve the annual migration intake, made just two months ago, is not worth the paper it is written on, and is yet another broken promise from a government which is making it harder for mainstream Australians to get ahead,” said Dr You.
“The latest data reinforces that Australia’s migration program is being run in the interests of big business and universities bureaucracy, not the Australian people.”
“The record surge to migration is taking place at the same time as housing and rental prices are at record highs and housing construction is at 1980s levels. Australians are suffering through cost-of-living crisis brought on by unplanned mass migration,” said Dr You.
Previous IPA research has found that Australia’s increased reliance on migration meant that Australians in 2023 were approximately $7,848 poorer on a per capita basis.
“Never before has GDP per capita declined for more than a year, now totalling five quarters. Today, Australians are, on an individual basis, in recession and getting left further behind when the nation’s cost of living crisis is already acute,” said Dr You.
“Australia’s dismal economic conditions reflect the federal government’s lack of vision and ambition for the nation. Its only trick for growing the economy seems to be by increasing migration alone.”
“Migration has and will continue to play a critical role in Australia’s story. However, the current unplanned, record migration intake is placing immense pressure on housing costs and our infrastructure, has not solved our worker shortage crisis and has left Australians worse off,” said Dr You.
To download the IPA’s previous research click here.
