Australia to limit number of permanent migrants to 160,000 for the next four years
- The 160,000 cap covers 110,000 skilled places and 47,000 family places
- To try to steer migrants away from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, new skilled-worker visas are also being introduced
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has decided to cap permanent migration at 160,000 for the next four years, and introduced new skilled-worker visas to steer migrants away from the big cities.
To try to steer migrants away from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the government was also introducing new skilled-worker visas, covering 23,000 entrants, requiring three years of residence in the regions as a precondition for securing permanent residency.
Confirming the new cap on Wednesday, Morrison said moving to a lower figure would have had a negative impact on next month’s budget.
Morrison’s acknowledgement of the underlying rationale of the new cap comes as Australian National University demographer Liz Allen on Wednesday blasted the government’s new population policy as “woeful” because the approach was not holistic.