Tony Abbott blames record numbers of temporary residents and international students on recent governments. But policy changes introduced and maintained under his own leadership played a central role in driving that growth.

Last week Tony Abbott published an article on his sub-stack making a range of claims that were both misleading and tried to divert from his Government’s role in the current volume of students in Australia.

As usual, Abbott compliments himself for stopping the boats. He would know that the boats had largely stopped by the time he became Prime Minister. But it’s his complaints about the number of temporary entrants, particularly students, in Australia that is most misleading. Abbott says:

“About 2.5 million people, or about 10 per cent of our total population, are temporary residents. There’s nearly a million people on student visas. There’s over half a million on temporary work visas. And there’s well over 100,000 on bridging visas, appealing against deportation.”

“About 2.5 million people, or about 10 per cent of our total population, are temporary residents. There’s nearly a million people on student visas. There’s over half a million on temporary work visas. And there’s well over 100,000 on bridging visas, appealing against deportation.”

The number of temporary entrants in Australia have indeed increased significantly from the 1.67 million who were in Australia in........

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