00:01Hi there, Jo. Well, we're getting a much better and clearer idea of what Labor's migration
00:06policy will look like, although we'll have to wait for the exact details when they're
00:11announced tomorrow. The government plans to reduce its net overseas migration number to
00:17225,000 by 2028. How they are going to do that is through a couple of different ways.
00:23Firstly, the ABC has heard that there will be an effective ban on international students
00:29from bringing their family members to Australia with them. International student numbers are
00:34expected to go largely untouched. But last year, 45,000 people were granted secondary visas,
00:41being relatives or dependents of international students who were granted their visas here
00:46in Australia. So under the new policy, we understand that will come to an end. This all forms part
00:54of the government's plans to cut the number of temporary visas. There's currently three
00:59million of those. And the government wants to ensure that migrants who are on those temporary
01:04visas leave Australia when those visas come to an end and prevent so-called visa hopping.
01:10On this, the government has been considering removing the work rights of temporary visa holders
01:25whose applications for protection have been denied or rejected by the Department of Home
01:30Affairs. So people who are here on a temporary visa who are perhaps international students can apply for
01:38protection, which is an asylum or a refugee application. 90% of them are rejected, but they can have the
01:46right to an appeal, which is a process that can take up to eight years. And so they're put on
01:51a bridging visa in the meantime.
01:53The government is looking to clamp down on that and make sure that when people come to the end of
01:59their visa, they are returning back to their home countries. During question time today, the Home
02:05Affairs Minister was cryptic, but he did give some clues as to what the government is thinking and
02:10what's to come. He says, while the best way to manage migration is through legislation, there are also
02:16levers that the government can pull to help bring those numbers down. And limiting the work rights of
02:21temporary visa holders is certainly one of those levers. Here's what he had to say during question time.
02:29Processing speeds is one of the only things with planning levels that we currently have available.
02:34The more tools that are available, the better we can target the system. The best form of outcome there
02:40will be if we are able to sort our way through for a legislative option. In the absence of that,
02:46there are still more levers that the government will be able to use, and I'll be making those
02:50announcements tomorrow.
02:51Now, the government has already been pulling on some of those levers. They've paused the processing of
02:58some temporary, some working holiday visas, and they've also reprioritised the processing of skilled
03:05migrant visas. They've also put in some steps to shut down university courses, which they suspect are being
03:11misused for people to visa hop onto to extend their time here in Australia. So, some of those levers are
03:19already being pulled. So, while we don't have the exact details, we are getting a much better idea of
03:24what this policy, which will be announced fully at the National Press Club tomorrow, will entail.
03:29Joe?
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