A striking graph has highlighted how almost two-thirds of new foreign migrants are flooding into Sydney and Melbourne, worsening the cities’ severe congestion and housing crisis.
A record 548,742 migrants moved to Australia in the year to September, pushing population growth to its highest level since 1952, 2.5 per cent.
A chart by IFM Investors chief economist Alex Joiner reveals that 186,433 new immigrants settled in New South Wales alone, while another 161,758 settled in Victoria.
More than 63 percent of newly arrived permanent and long-term foreigners moved to both states, which are also home to larger numbers of international students.
Most will live in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two largest cities, which already have more than 5 million residents each and are enduring a crippling rental crisis.
The striking graph has highlighted how almost two-thirds of new foreign migrants are arriving in Sydney and Melbourne, adding to serious congestion in the cities.
Queensland, the recipient of high interstate migration, received 87,954 foreign migrants, while mining-rich Western Australia received 67,629 foreigners.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has unveiled a five-point plan to tackle record levels of immigration.
Stop immigration
He wants an immediate halt to immigration levels as Australia faces a record rental vacancy rate of one per cent.
“I ask that immigration be stopped and that the government take care of our elderly, the sick and the defenseless first,” he told the Senate Thursday morning.
“On behalf of the majority of Australians, I demand an end to immigration.”
Hold a plebiscite
Senator Hanson wants Australia to hold a plebiscite on immigration, pointing out that this has only been done three times since Federation in 1901.
“The majority of Australians do not want high immigration and the main parties completely ignore polls that universally confirm this fact,” he said.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has unveiled a five-point plan to tackle record levels of immigration.
“However, there is one type of poll they cannot ignore: a national plebiscite.”
Of Australia’s plebiscites, two out of three have been defeated, including conscription plebiscites in 1916 and 1917 during the First World War.
Take on big corporations
Senator Hanson wants the government to stand up to the corporate interests driving high immigration.
“There are people like the Harvey Normans of this world and the Bunnings who want more immigration because they will sell more products,” he said.
‘That’s all it is. You’re not interested in the average person out there.
Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey predicted in 2017 that Australia will be an “Asian country” with a population of 100 million in the next century and said there is “no chance in hell we can stop it”.
Wesfarmers, the parent company of the Bunnings hardware chain, called for a greater influx of migrants in 2022.
Chief executive Rob Scott argued that companies were struggling to hire staff and were postponing major projects due to labor shortages.
“Cafes, restaurants, hospitality and tourism businesses, especially in regional areas, are struggling,” he said.
“That doesn’t have a direct impact on our businesses, but it does have an indirect impact because a lot of those small businesses are customers of Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks.”
Australia’s unemployment rate in February fell again to 3.7 per cent, a big drop from January’s two-year high of 4.1 per cent, as 116,500 jobs were created.
Solve the housing shortage
Senator Hanson, originally from Queensland, argued that Australia could not accept so many migrants when there was a severe housing shortage.
“We must catch up on housing, infrastructure and services,” he said.
‘We must first worry about the Australians who live here now.
‘Why is this a problem? Why can’t they just listen to the Australian people, stop immigration and let us catch up on the services we need?’
In the year to September, Australia built 109,322 homes and 60,813 units, construction activity data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
The newly completed 170,215 homes would house 425,538, based on an average household size of 2.5 people per home at the last census.
The supply of new homes would leave a deficit of 92,462, based on new immigrants.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised to build 1.2 million homes over five years from July 2024, despite more construction companies going into liquidation due to high costs.
Wants an immediate halt to immigration levels as Australia faces a record one per cent rental vacancy rate (pictured, a Bondi rental queue)
More than 63 percent of permanent and long-term immigrants moved to two states
Expel the main parties
If all else fails, Senator Hanson, a former Liberal candidate, has called on voters to throw out the major parties in the next 2025 election.
“I tell people: if they don’t give you a say about the high immigration that is coming to this country and destroying your way of life, then don’t vote for them anymore,” he said.
‘You are the Australian people. You have the power in your hands in the next polls. In the next federal election, make your vote count.’
A Newspoll published in The Australian on Monday gave the Coalition 37 per cent of the primary vote, followed by Labor on 32 per cent.
Labor still leads the polls, 51 to 49 percent, but could lose its majority in 2025, as it did in 2010, and have to rely on the Greens or Teal Party independents to retain power.
One Nation’s primary vote, at seven per cent, is behind the Greens on 13 per cent.
This is despite multiple opinion polls showing the majority of Australian voters oppose high immigration, with the intake of 548,800 more than double the pre-pandemic level of 194,400 in 2019-20.
Newspoll’s survey of 1,223 voters was conducted March 18-22 with a national sample.