TRANSCRIPT:
The government has been under pressure over a cost of living crisis, and worsening housing affordability.
Amid those concerns, it's unveiled its blueprint for a new migration strategy.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neill says migration numbers need to be brought back to normal.
"We are going to make sure that we bring numbers back under control, that we build a better planned system around essential things like housing, and most importantly of all, that we build a program that delivers for the national interest."
After the post-pandemic re-opening of Australia's borders, the number of new arrivals versus the number of departures peaked at more than 500,000 last financial year.
The government hopes to bring net migration down to 250,000 by 2025 - which it will largely achieve by introducing tougher rules for international student visas.
These will include a Genuine Student test for all visa applications and an increase in English language requirements for student and temporary graduate visas.
Clare O'Neill says the change will improve the quality of students' educational experience in Australia and reduce the potential for workplace exploitation.
"Now what we have seen with students who are struggling with their English is that they're at much higher risk of exploitation and that they are likely to gather in really low paid work and not be able to move out of that in their time in our country. Now we want to run a good integrity-filled education system here, but we also want to set our students up for success. And if we allow them to come here without functional English that will allow them to work, we're not doing that."
The change has brought mixed reactions from international students.
Hari Dhukral is completing a Masters of Marketing Management at the Australian National University, and supports the move.
"I literally think that it's quite necessary to be very honest, when you come to a country where English is their first language, you have to be very proficient about it."
But Chinese post-graduate chemistry student Kaili says a high proficiency in spoken English is not critical to her research.
"Most of the time we just need to read to do experiments and we seldom spend so much time to communicate with others."
The new migration plan also aims to cut the number of people on temporary work visas with a new Skills in Demand Visa replacing several other current visas.
It will include a pathway to attract highly paid and highly skilled workers by cutting red tape and visa processing times, a move welcomed by Tech Council of Australia CEO Kate Pounder.
"There are some very deep skill shortages in our economy which when we don't get right can make it harder to grow our economy, can make it harder to create innovative businesses that want to export to the world and in some cases can jeopardise our national security if we are finding it hard to fulfil roles like cyber security specialists, so we just think this change is going to be really vital to put us on a better footing economically and when it comes to areas like cyber security."
But Unions New South Wales says the measures don't do enough to prevent the exploitation of international students.
Secretary Mark Morey is calling on the government to cap current working hours on international students, saying those who break the rules are still at the mercy of their employers.
"Quite frankly if you're a student living in Sydney and studying and trying to some work, you can't live in Sydney or Melbourne on 20 odd hours a week. It's just unreasonable, unfair and we don't believe students are coming here simply to try to leave their student visa to work and become permanent residents."
Some have blamed migration levels for higher housing prices and a lower quality of life in urban centres.
Opposition Immigration spokesperson Dan Tehan appears to be one of them.
"What they forecast in their May budget was that 1.5 million people were going to come here over five years. Now what we've found out today that that number will be 1.6 million people over five years, driving up housing prices, driving up rents, driving up your inability to be able to see a GP, driving up congestion in our major capital cities."
But Trent Wiltshire, the Deputy Director of Migration and Labour Markets at the Grattan Institute, says that's not true.
He says economic modelling shows a lower immigration intake will reduce rents by just one per cent.
"Overall there will be a marginal impact on rents. We estimate around one per cent over the next 18 months. So it will help a little bit, but the main game for reducing rents in the long term is building more housing. But more can be done in the short term as well, so things like boosting Commonwealth Rent Assistance further will help the most vulnerable renters."
