Photo credit: the Australian
Australia has yet to determine whether to set migration limits or not.
The Canberra Times reports that while Tony Burke said the migration intake was continuing to fall, the Department of Home Affairs has announced plans to commit to a four-year immigration target.
Mr Burke, who is the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, and Minister for Cyber Security, said setting a multi-year target would not be helpful.
Burke said, “What I am concerned about is if you overcommit where you will be at in future years, you miss some of the changed needs of the nation that we have.
“I never want to have a situation where we feel committed because we announced this is where we’d be three years earlier, and we lose some of the flexibility we need to take advantage of exactly what Australia needs.”
In September, the government announced 185,000 permanent visas would be made available in 2025/26, leaving the rates unchanged from the previous financial year.
While Burke said the overall migration rate would be tailored to what the country needs, the opposition home affairs spokesman, Jonathan Duniam, said the government should carry out a methodical process for determining what future migrant levels look like.
