Queensland Labor Premier Steven Miles has broken ranks to demand the Albanese government reduce immigration levels as his state battles a crippling housing crisis.
Miles urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reduce high levels of migration to a more reasonable rate to an unprecedented extent.
Miles said Queensland’s property market would struggle to keep up with the influx of new immigrants and population growth if the government did not act now.
“If migration continues at current levels, we will need tens of thousands more homes each year than the industry can build,” he said.
‘That is largely why prices and rents have risen so rapidly.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles (pictured) urged his ally Anthony Albanese to reduce high levels of migration to a more reasonable pace.
A record 518,000 people moved to Australia in the 2022-23 financial year and up to 143,600 people moved to Queensland in the year to September 2023.
‘The federal government needs to help us ensure infrastructure keeps pace with population growth.
“We urge you to consider moderating migration levels to help with population growth.”
A record 518,000 people moved to Australia in the 2022-23 financial year and up to 143,600 people moved to Queensland in the year to September 2023.
It was almost four times the number of people who moved to Queensland in 2019 and the state’s population will reach 7.4 million within a decade if growth is not curbed.
Miles said he was proud of Queensland’s multicultural community and welcomed a “manageable rate” of people moving to the state.
He said skilled migration was required in Queensland, and the federal government agreed to prioritize visas for construction workers.
Labour’s next budget is setting aside $90.6 million to increase the number of skilled workers in the construction sector.
Most of that money will fund an additional 15,000 free TAFE training places and 5,000 pre-apprenticeships over two years from January 2025.
But $1.8 million is also being set aside to fast-track skills assessments for 1,900 potential skilled migrants from first-world countries who want to work in Australia’s housing and construction sector.
The funding would also give Trades Recognition Australia more resources to assess 2,600 migrants from developing countries whose skills are not formally recognized by national industry bodies.
Albanese, along with state and territory leaders, pledged earlier this year to build 1.2 million homes over five years from July 2024.
Albanese (pictured) along with state and territory leaders pledged earlier this year to build 1.2 million homes over five years from July 2024.
Labor’s next budget is setting aside $90.6 million to increase the number of skilled workers in the construction sector (pictured, a housing estate in Oran Park, Sydney).
However, supply is failing to keep pace with demand, and private sector approvals plunged 9.9 percent in January.
Daniel Wild, deputy director of the Institute of Public Affairs, said high immigration meant Australia would struggle to accommodate an influx of population.
“Governments at all levels are preparing Australia for an economic and humanitarian disaster, as the latest housing approvals show we are simply not building enough homes for first-home buyers and new immigrants, despite inflows. record,” he said.
Wild said the drop in construction approvals, amid higher costs, highlighted “the real-world consequences of record, unplanned levels of migration.”
“Despite repeated warnings, the federal government continues to step on the accelerator of migration while slowing down housing approvals,” he said.
In the year to January, only 99,759 new private homes were approved, including 7,461 in the first month of 2024.
