According to Sina Finance, Australia’s far-right One Nation party has proposed cutting about 750,000 temporary migrants over three years in an effort to win support amid public anger over cost-of-living pressures and housing shortages. The plan would target visas issued to international students and their families, as well as skilled migrants.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said on Monday that the proposal would end the practice of extending stays in Australia through repeated renewals of temporary visas and would deport illegal migrants. According to the Australian Financial Review, the announcement came days before Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to unveil his center-left government’s revised immigration policy.
Rapid population growth has intensified housing pressure and raised public concern, helping lift support for Hanson’s party in opinion polls. Hanson said in a statement that a larger economy is meaningless if Australians have lower per-capita incomes, cannot afford homes, struggle to get hospital beds, and see no improvement in living standards.