Labor would send out more immigration officers to try to deport visa overstayers exploiting the system under a proposed element of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plan to overhaul the country’s migration program.
The government is considering a boost to enforcement operations to put more effort into tracking down overstayers, many of whom are former students or temporary workers, who have exhausted legal options to remain in the country. A large number now work as undocumented migrants.
Cabinet sources, not able to speak publicly about tightly held talks, said the idea was one element of a broader overhaul taken to cabinet last week by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who is putting together new policies designed to reach the government’s net overseas migration forecast. Labor has consistently failed to hit its migration targets and is struggling to get the number down from 300,000 to 225,000 a year.
Questions over how to execute the sensitive moves on overstayers contributed to Labor’s decision to delay Burke’s announcement, which was due to come in a National Press Club speech last week. Migration has turned into a hot-button issue in Canberra and both Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and One Nation’s Pauline Hanson have announced plans to target the growing problem of overstayers.
Conscious that the crackdown will be perceived as a response to One Nation, ministers are working through the policy to make sure it is not seen by migrant communities as an ICE-style, Donald Trump-like move, or weaponised by the Greens in a similar light.
If more money were put into compliance, it would become more common for border officials to investigate tips about undocumented workers at places such as farms, hotels, restaurants and construction sites.
The government does not want to create an aggressive, US-style system. Australia does not have the same problems as the US and UK related to illegal border crossings, yet Labor believes that more focus is probably required to crack down on people exploiting the visa system.
“We’re in the middle here, with One Nation creating fear and the Greens waiting to make bad faith arguments that we are cruel,” one senior Labor source said.
“There’s broad agreement in cabinet, but we needed more time to land all the moving parts and make sure we strike the right balance.”
After Burke abruptly delayed his speech last week, the migration plan did not come back to cabinet when Labor ministers met for their regular Monday meeting this week. Government sources said the policymaking process, in which Albanese is involved, could take more than two weeks to land.
Burke delayed his pitch to increase the government’s control of the migration system to avoid the need to backflip on undercooked measures, as Labor has been forced to do with its tax changes in the May budget.
The government has been tight-lipped about its migration proposal and many elements have not leaked. What has been reported is that the government is weighing up proposals to cut work rights from visa overstayers, rework the skills program to better serve the economy, and put stricter rules on working holidaymakers and family reunion visas.
More than 100,000 people whose asylum seeker applications have been rejected are still in the country, this masthead has previously reported. Many are now undocumented. For years, experts have warned that long waiting times for protection visas allow people whose temporary visas have expired to keep working in Australia by applying for asylum. Less than 15 per cent of asylum claims processed in the 2024-25 financial year were deemed to be legitimate.
Some move to bridging visas, but many do not gain a new visa and remain in Australia illegally. Departmental figures show the number of unlawful non-citizens in Australia, who are subject to removal, has increased to 77,700 in June last year. Of the more than 100,000, between 20,000 and 30,000 were long-time overstayers who had not applied for asylum.
When unlawful non-citizens are detained, they often volunteer to go to their home country in acknowledgement that they have no other avenues to stay.
The broader issue of driving up the number of temporary migrants who exit the country is core to Burke’s plan. Labor has implemented changes to cut back on temporary visas, particularly for students. But large numbers of backpackers, New Zealanders moving under free trade arrangements, and other temporary migrants have made it difficult for the government to control inflows and reach its target of 225,000. This has put a greater emphasis on getting people to leave when they are legally required to do so.
About 10 per cent of the population, being 2.9 million people, are temporary migrants, fuelling concern from the Coalition and One Nation that the nation relies too heavily on migration to drive economic growth.
Hanson, who is leading the migration debate and has been censured over remarks on Muslims, seized on Burke’s delay last week. “He wants to look like he’s cutting migration, but he’s not – he’s lying. All he’s doing is moving things around to make the number seem smaller,” she said.
Taylor ran into criticism from conservative broadcasters this week for not being willing to outline a net overseas migration figure after his housing spokesman Andrew Bragg estimated the Coalition would bring the number down to about 180,000. One Nation’s figure of 130,000 permanent visas has attracted little scrutiny in that it might lead to net negative migration.
Labor’s previous home affairs minister Clare O’Neil commissioned a review of Australia’s visa system, conducted by former Victoria Police chief Christine Nixon, which Labor said had proved that the Coalition cut by 50 per cent the number of compliance officers.
“One of the great frauds that’s been perpetrated in Australian politics is Peter Dutton presenting himself as the big tough guy who kept our border secure and our nation safe,” she said at the time.
Dutton firmly rejected the claims at the time and said the Morrison government actually ramped up enforcement actions, after the Abbott and Turnbull governments held a greater focus on illegal boat arrivals rather than onshore activities.
The secretary of the Home Affairs department at the time, Mike Pezullo, said public confidence in the immigration system was underpinned by controlling inflows, but also making sure people who had no legal rights to remain in the country were forced to leave.
“That’s a core function that needs to be maintained,” he said.
Migration expert Abul Rizvi said any strident measures to deport unlawful non-citizens could prove difficult and costly.
“The bulk of them would be working illegally, predominantly in farms, hotels, restaurants and construction sites. The biggest one is farms,” he said last month.
“Then you need to deal with all those people through the legal system, and the taxpayer ends up paying for both sides. You then need to negotiate with the relevant governments to send the people back, and put them on planes,” he said. “Add up all the costs, and you’re quickly running into the many billions.”
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