Coalition plan ties migration to housing builds

Australia’s immigration levels would be explicitly tied to the number of houses built if the Liberals and Nationals held power, one of seven major parts of the coalition’s plan.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor gave his budget reply in Canberra yesterday and said his vision of government was a “fairer, freer and better Australia for all”.

As well as migration and housing, the coalition would introduce changes to tax indexation, fuel security, welfare payments, paying down debt, small business investment and national security.

Under the Coalition’s plan, net overseas migration would be no higher than number of new homes completed in Australia, with migration in the first years significantly below the cap to allow the housing market to adjust.

This would be supported by a $5 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock up to 400,000 homes, and changes to the National Construction Code to cut the estimated cost of building a new house by up to $70,000.

Taylor did not specify a migration target in his speech.

“This much I promise: the coalition will deliver one of the biggest cuts to immigration in the history of this country,” he said.

In related measures, access to 17 welfare payments and benefits will be limited to Australian citizens only from from 1 July 2028. Future eligibility for the NDIS would be limited to Australian citizens, and existing recipients of these benefits and the NDIS will be grandfathered.

“My message is this: if you commit to Australia, Australia will commit to you,” Taylor said.

From 2028–29, the bottom two income tax thresholds would be indexed to inflation and apply to about 85 per cent of income earners, with savings of $250 in the first year growing to more than $1,000 annually in the fourth year. The top two thresholds would be indexed from 2031–32.

When resource windfalls are higher than forecast, the new Future Generations Fund would see 80 cents in every dollar used to pay down debt and invest in nation-building infrastructure.

On fuel security, the coalition would double minimum stockholding levels to 60 days for petrol, diesel and jet fuel, establish a new $800 million Australian Fuel Security Facility, and reverse regulatory barriers. Labor’s Safeguard Mechanism would also be cancelled.

Businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million will be able to immediately deduct assets costing up to $50,000.

The coalition will also create a whole-of-nation National Security Strategy and increase defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP.

Victorian Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson said private enterprise grew the economy, not the government.

“We will restore Australians’ standard of living and protect our way of life,” she said.

Housing Industry Association (HIA) managing director Jocelyn Martin said the HIA welcomed the ambition of the coalition’s budget reply.

“There is a need to establish a long-term, multi-decade national settlement strategy that aligns population growth with housing system design, infrastructure investment and labour market needs,” she said.

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre chief executive Jana Favero said the coalition was deliberately misleading Australians about how the welfare system already operated to stoke fear and division.

“It’s irresponsible and not credible economic policy. In fact, it would cause an economic and humanitarian catastrophe,” she said.