There are growing tensions in the Australian migration system. This has presented an opportunity for the Liberal Party to formulate migration policy that addresses these tensions in a way that would differentiate it from the government.

So far, they have failed to do so. Instead, they have produced only a dismal migration policy that is aimed simply at inducing One Nation followers back to the Liberal Party.

The Liberal policy approach effectively labels migrants as undesirable people. For example, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has announced the party proposes capping overseas migration to match housing supply levels. He has also indicated that access to some welfare, including the NDIS, would be restricted to Australian citizens, and there would be a heavier emphasis on “Australian values”.

Under the announced Liberal policy, migration levels would be based solely on the number of new dwellings completed: one dwelling, one “net” migrant. Helping to meet skill shortages appears no longer to be a criterion for migration even though it has been the central to it for decades.

The Albanese government, while aware of these tensions in the migration system, has chosen to sweep them under the carpet. But the opposition’s policy will not work either.

Numbers don’t tell the whole story

As I have written previously, net overseas migration, which is the net loss or gain in a population due to migration, is a very slippery concept and should not be a basis for policy. For example, between 2012 and 2015, net........

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