Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, trailing in opinion polls ahead of a May 18 election, yesterday campaigned on the hot-button issue of immigration, promising to cut annual migrant numbers and freeze the country’s refugee intake.
The pace of migration and the overcrowding of Australia’s major cities is a sensitive issue among voters in a nation where 29 percent of the 25.3 million people were born overseas, and where migration levels outstrip the birthrate.
“Managing our population growth is very important to the quality of life that we have in our cities,” Morrison said at a Liberal Party rally in Sydney.
Net overseas migration in the year to September last year was 240,100, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has said.
Morrison said that if his government was re-elected, it would cap annual migrant numbers at 160,000 people per year for the next four years.
The restriction does not include more than 350,000 foreign students granted visas each year, the majority of whom end up staying and who pump millions of dollars through the nation’s universities, according to Australian Department of Home Affairs figures.
Voters in the largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne, where most migrants settle, have growing concerns over congestion, inadequate infrastructure and the rising cost of living.
Morrison also said that the annual refugee intake would be frozen at 18,750 people.
The opposition Labor Party intends to increase the refugee intake to 27,000 by 2025.
The Labor’s campaign has focused on increased spending for education, health and welfare, and its leader Bill Shorten yesterday promised A$4 billion (US$2.82 billion) worth of childcare to 1 million low-income families, including 15 hours a week of free preschool, if elected.
“It’s time that we rewarded mums for participating in the economy instead of penalizing families,” he said at a rally in Melbourne.
He also promised free dental care for elderly people.
Morrison’s government entered the campaign well behind Labor in opinion polls, but has closed the gap, with the latest poll showing his Liberal-National party coalition up two points on the primary vote to be level with Labor at 37 percent.
However, the poll, conducted by YouGov/Galaxy for News Corp media and published on Saturday, showed that the coalition still trailed Labor 48-52 on a more important two-party preferred basis.
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