The Albanese government’s immigration targets for the last financial year could be exceeded by as much as 100,000 people.
Corinna Economic Advisory’s Saul Eslake forecast the 2023-23 financial year intake would be 495,000 people, ‘if not more’, reported The n.
The government had settled on an intake target of 395,000 for the same period, down from 518,000 the year earlier.
Abdul Rizvi, a former immigration department deputy secretary, estimated the number would be around 450,000 to 475,000 people and added that ‘s robust jobs market was keeping people here and attracting those from overseas.
‘Especially people in Europe and China and in Southeast Asia, where the labour market has weakened more quickly than in ,’ Mr Rizvi said.
‘What we had was a higher-than-expected return of n citizens, and we also had a higher-than-expected net arrival of Kiwis.’
The Albanese government has already revised the numbers twice.
In last year’s May budget the government forecast the number of foreigners moving to the country would drop to 315,000 in the 12 months to June under new measures it introduced – though this was revised to 375,000 in December and 395,000 earlier this year.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton previously said the influx of new residents vying for places to live was why property prices remain at record highs.
‘This is why ns can’t afford to buy a home, it’s why the rents have gone through the roof and it’s why we find ourselves in a position that we do today with people living without secure accommodation,’ he said.
Minister for Home Affairs Murray Watt said migration had slowed under the government’s measures it had introduced progressively over the last two years.