One Nation Vows to Cut 750,000 Temporary Migrants
Synopsis
One Nation wants to cut Australia’s temporary migrant population by 750,000 over three years, with the plan facing criticism from Labor and the Coalition.
Key Highlights
- One Nation plans to reduce Australia’s permanent migrant intake by 750,000 in three years.
- The plan would deliver net-negative migration to Australia for three years, meaning more people leaving than arriving.
- A cut to student, graduate and temporary skilled visas, and a cap on family member settlements of TFNs.
- The proposal would cause economic harm, Labour and the Coalition have warned.
One Nation has unveiled further elements of its proposal to drastically reduce Australia’s temporary migrant numbers, announcing it would cut 750,000 temporary migrants from Australia within three years.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said most of the cut would be met by no longer issuing new visas. The plan would restore the temporary migrant population to levels near 2017 and keep net overseas migration negative for three years. It comes as migration continues to dominate the political agenda with housing, infrastructure and pressure on public services at the forefront of discussion.
The cuts will hit transient visas together with student visas, graduate visas and non-permanent expert ones. The plan would also “encompass leaving and expelling people who are in Australia unlawfully.
According to Joyce’s plan, more than 100,000 fewer migrants would enter Australia under the plan by preventing family members of temporary skilled workers from joining them in the country. He also pointed out that, relative to the latest data from 2017, a large proportion of its universities have emerged as visa-as-immigration channels with less scrutiny.
One Nation wants to cap international student inflow in Australia at 100,000 a year. The party says it would retain its net overseas migration cap of 130,000 each year but review it every year after what it proposes would be a three-year pause.
Labor and Coalition Criticise Plan
Both major political parties have criticised the plan. Health Minister Mark Butler said that snubbing migration by such a big amount will not only impact growth, but damage industries reliant on migrant labour including healthcare, aged care and construction.
The sophisticated use of data to estimate Indonesia’s international labour supply would make it easier to bring in workers at a higher wage without causing the sorts of serious problems for some businesses and other forms of capital, which under Dr Wong’s plan could lead to failure.
The proposal has also been slammed by the Deputy leader of the Liberals Jane Hume who made stark claims regarding negative net overseas migration being a huge hit to an economy already reeling from lockdowns. She asked whether economic modelling had been used to justify those numbers.
Migration numbers in Australia had already shrunk before the pandemic hit
After COVID-19 borders opened to the rest of the world Australia went back to normal after no more quarantine was required for migrants, refugees and travel. In 2022–23, net overseas migration rose to its highest ever recorded level of 556000.
That figure has seen a steep decline ever since. Net overseas migration, people coming in versus those leaving, was at 301,000 in the year to June 2025 based on new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
The federal government is also weighing another overhaul of migration. In August, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had delayed a National Press Club speech in which he was expected to unveil migration cuts.
The original net overseas migration target from the government for 2027–28 was set at 225,000 but final plans remain uncertain.
What This Would Mean for Businesses in Australia
Even a modest cut in temporary migrants has the potential to impact parts of the economy and labour market dependent on international workers, especially in construction, hospitality, health and aged care. Employers will have fewer potential workers to draw on and will start competing more vigorously for people who are already in Australia.
Reductions in international student numbers are likely to put pressure on universities, too. Major changes could ultimately affect universities and businesses which depend on international students, as they represent an important source of revenue for Australian education providers.
What It Means for Entrepreneurs
Cuts to migration proposed could trigger even higher hiring pressures, if businesses have used temporary visa holders to plug vacancies. Less likely to hire workers from small businesses, especially where local staff are hard to find.
But the policy might open doors for businesses that work to up-skill locals, boost productivity or lessen the reliance on foreign workers. But such a scale of cuts would require businesses to be careful with their readings if the policy is brought in
Source: SBS
At Inspirepreneurs Magazine, covering entrepreneurship, business failures, and the human stories behind the world's most ambitious founders. She writes at the intersection of strategy and storytelling.
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