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'Fundamentally a strength': Labor shakes up migration

The reforms target 77,000 visa overstayers and tighten student and working holiday rules as Labor seeks to lower migration levels.

  • On Thursday, Immigration Minister Tony Burke announced migration reforms at the National Press Club, targeting a reduction in net overseas migration from 292,100 to 225,000 annually.
  • The government will revert to pre-2015 settings, which Burke said will incentivize overstayers to leave or face detention, targeting the roughly 77,000 unlawful non-citizens in Australia.
  • International students face new restrictions preventing family reunification and 'visa hopping,' changes education stakeholders warn could hurt the $55 billion export industry.
  • Asylum Seeker Resource Centre chief Kon Karapanagiotidis compared the detention plan to 'shocking ICE-driven crackdowns,' questioning whether the government intends to detain whole families.
  • Australia's population grew 1.4 per cent to 27.9 million in the 12 months to March, while Burke argued falling household sizes drive housing shortages requiring 450,000 additional homes.
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67 Articles

ObservadorObservador
+4 Reposted by 4 other sources
Lean Right

Minister of the Interior says he wants to demonstrate that "the government controls immigration."Tourism industry and human rights organizations criticize measures, claiming social and economic impacts.

·Lisboa, Portugal
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Lean Right

Tens of thousands of people stay in Australia longer than their visa allows. The government reacts with a controversial reform, which also meets backpackers and relatives of students. The tourism industry warns against image damage.

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ledauphine.comledauphine.com
+6 Reposted by 6 other sources
Center

It is a trick on immigration. These new restrictions concern student visas and work holidays.

Lean Left

Australia will place tourists who overstay their visas in administrative detention centres. The measure is part of a tightening of immigration policy, the government announced, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced restrictions on student and work-holiday visas, saying the government wanted to show it was “controlling” immigration. It is planned to open 250 new places in detention centres and …

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  • 47% of the sources lean Left
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SBS News broke the news in Artarmon, Australia on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
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