Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has allowed 1.15 million immigrants into Australia since taking power, the highest number ever in a single term of government.
The current migration intake is 62% higher than the previous record, set during the first term of the Rudd-Gillard first-term Labor government, according to new research published by the Institute of Public Affairs on Wednesday.
Immigrants from India made up 18% of the new immigrants in the last financial year with 92,940 arrivals, followed by China on 12% with 64,320, and the Philippines on 8% and 40,890.
Next were Nepal, Colombia, the UK, Vietnam, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Thailand.
Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan Tehan told The Daily Telegraph: “The numbers don’t lie. Labor has been running a Big Australia by stealth policy which has led to 1 million migrants arriving in just two years as Australians endure a housing crisis.
“The RBA has acknowledged that migration under Labor has contributed to inflation and that has led to 12 interest rate hikes and the cost-of-living pain being felt by Australians.”
Dr Kevin You, Senior Fellow at the IPA, said the Albanese goverment’s “out-of-control” immigration was making Australia’s per capita recession worse, and hurting Australians at the hip pocket.
“The Albanese government is a pale imitation of the Hawke-Keating years. It is clear it has no plan for real economic reform or growth, other than bringing in record amounts of migrants,” Dr You said.
“The federal government’s lazy, migration-driven growth agenda means that while the overall size of the economic pie may be growing, it is driving living standards down and leaving Australians with an even smaller slice.
“The current unplanned, record migration intake is placing immense pressure on housing and infrastructure, has not solved our worker shortage crisis, and is leaving Australians worse off.”
The average monthly net overseas migration intake under Hawke-Keating was 6,646, compared with this current government of 42,710, the IPA research revealed.
“At present, approximately 31% of Australia’s population is born overseas, which has increased from approximately 22% in 1983.
“By comparison, 29% of New Zealand’s population is foreign-born, followed by Canada (at 21%), the US (at 15%), and the UK (at 14%).”
