Labor has delivered a fierce rebuke of Pauline Hanson’s proposed immigration overhaul, warning the plan would leave vital industries “decimated”.
Hanson on Monday outlined One Nation’s sweeping proposal to reduce Australia’s temporary migrant population by 750,000 across three years.
Under the proposed overhaul, net overseas migration would fall below zero for a three-year “reset”, before annual arrivals were capped at 130,000.
The policy would focus on Australia’s temporary migrant population, which has risen to about three million people.
It would limit international student visas to 100,000 annually, tighten routes to permanent residency, cut temporary graduate visas and strip skilled migrants’ families of access to secondary visas.
Speaking on ABC Radio National Breakfast, Labor frontbencher Murray Watt said the policy would severely damage industries reliant on migrant workers.
“I don’t know when Pauline Hanson or Barnaby Joyce last walked into an abattoir in regional Australia full of migrant workers, when they last walked into a hospital, an aged care facility,” he said.
“Those industries would be decimated if we don’t have some form of migration to Australia,” Watt said.
Murray Watt (pictured) warned the policy would cripple sectors reliant on migrant labour
Pauline Hanson (pictured) unveiled her party’s plan to slash migration by 750,000 on Monday
The idea has also alarmed farming groups, who argued the sector cannot function without migrant workers.
National Farmers’ Federation president Hamish McIntyre told Nine the cuts would have a ‘terrible impact’ on farmers and could drive up food prices.
McIntyre said one in seven farm workers was a working holiday maker, and warned growers could struggle to fill roles if migration numbers were slashed.
Business groups also quickly condemned the proposal.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said the group supported measures to bolster integrity in the system, but not drastic cuts aiming for an arbitrary target.
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‘The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry does not support wholesale cuts to Australia’s migration program to meet an arbitrary Net Overseas Migration number,’ McKellar said.
‘Major cuts that reduce skilled migration would damage our economy, hit the Budget and weaken our capacity to provide services for, and lift, living standards for Australians.’
He said businesses across multiple sectors continue to rely heavily on migrant labour.
One Nation would target Australia’s temporary migrant population under the plan, which has grown to around three million
‘Many Australian businesses would be put at risk by major cuts to the migration program. Pubs, cafes, hotels and accommodation providers desperately need chefs,’ McKellar added.
‘Aged care homes and hospitals are short of staff already. Farmers and resources sector businesses continue to face persistent workforce shortages.’
‘Housing projects are being held up, while others remain unviable because of lack of workforce and skills shortages.’
He argued that skills shortages, not migration levels, are holding the economy back.
‘The real constraints on Australia’s economy are skills shortages, over-regulation and high taxes. That is what is driving up prices and holding us back,’ he said.
The Coalition also questioned the viability of Hanson’s proposal, even as they argued migration levels remain too high under Labor.
Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie said One Nation had not explained the economic and social consequences of its plan.
‘What we don’t know about Pauline Hanson’s policy is the economic, the fiscal, and the human impact it will have,’ Hastie told the Today show.
‘She posted on Facebook, in the last hour, her policy, but we don’t know what the modelling or the costing is, and it’s up to her to come out and explain that to the Australian people.’
Hastie said the Coalition remains committed to reducing migration, but wants a more measured approach linked to housing supply.
‘We’ve said that we’re going to cut net overseas migration below the amount of houses that are built every year because housing is a massive issue,’ he said.