Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government will unveil a long-awaited crackdown on migration on Wednesday, as Labor tries to wrestle a key election battleground away from Pauline Hanson's One Nation party.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will present the new migration plan at the National Press Club under the title "Who Arrives, Who Stays, Who Leaves." The speech comes more than a month after Burke's original appearance was cancelled at the last minute amid disagreement within cabinet over how far-reaching the changes should be.
Since the delay, political pressure on Labor over migration has grown sharper. One Nation, led by Pauline Hanson, has seized on the issue and put forward a far more sweeping proposal to cut Australia's temporary migrant population by 750,000 over three years.
What Labor Is Planning
Labor is understood to be preparing a sharp reduction in migration, cutting the net figure from around 305,000 to 225,000 within two years, after repeatedly overshooting its own forecasts.
To reach that target, the government is reportedly considering tougher deportation efforts aimed at Australia's 77,000 unlawful non-citizens, along with cuts to partner and backpacker visas. Other measures under consideration include steps to curb visa-hopping, tighter rules around appeals, and a push to rein in the number of bridging visas, which have surged under Labor's watch.
The plan follows weeks of mounting pressure on the government to respond to concerns about record population growth, housing shortages and stretched infrastructure across Australia.
The Coalition's Rival Plan
The opposition Liberal-National Coalition is working on its own approach, which would tie net overseas migration to the number of new homes built. Home construction is currently tracking at around 173,000 a year.
Opposition defence spokesman James Paterson said he was looking forward to seeing the detail of Labor's plan but was "deeply sceptical about Labor's ability to deliver."
"Because for four years they've failed to deliver. As for our own policy, we are close to releasing it but we're actually going to do the work to get it right because we are not the government," he told reporters in Canberra.
"We are seeking to be the government after the next election and we're not going to put out a half-baked policy like One Nation has that hasn't even been costed, the budgetary impacts of which they have no idea."
The Numbers Behind the Debate
Around 1.4 million people have been added to Australia's population through net overseas migration since Labor took office in May 2022.
Net overseas migration surged to 538,000 in 2022-23 before easing to 429,000 in 2023-24 and 306,000 in 2024-25. A further 144,000 migrants were added in the second half of 2025.
The government has defended the elevated figures, arguing that not all migration is within its direct control. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said "ministers for immigration don't always have direct levers."
"Quite a lot of our immigration program is demand-driven. If a business needs a temporary skilled worker, then that is something which automatically happens," Bowen said.
Bowen also pointed to Australians returning from overseas as a significant factor in the figures. "There's things in the total net migration figures to Australia, like Australian residents returning home, as they're perfectly entitled to do," he said.
Burke's speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday is expected to set out the detail of Labor's plan in full.
