One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has attacked South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas over his defence of migration, accusing him of putting migrants ahead of Australian children.
Hanson made the comments in a media release shared on social media after Malinauskas argued that Australia should maintain a strong migration program and warned against a political race to reduce migration numbers.
In his speech to the Sydney Institute, Malinauskas cited 2021 Treasury modelling that estimated the average Australian-born resident has a lifetime net cost of $85,000 to public budgets, compared with a $198,000 lifetime net benefit for the average skilled migrant.
Hanson used those figures to argue that Labor was treating Australian children as a cost while presenting migration as a financial benefit. She also accused the government of choosing migration instead of investing in education, training and opportunities for Australians.
The figures cited by Malinauskas relate to the estimated lifetime fiscal impact of Australian-born residents and skilled migrants. They are not a measure of the immediate cost of raising an individual child or the overall economic value of migration.
Malinauskas has argued that migration plays an important role in addressing Australia’s ageing population, workforce shortages and economic growth. He has also said the policy debate should focus on matching migration settings to skills shortages and regional needs rather than adopting an arbitrary national number.
The South Australian premier has warned that cutting migration for political reasons could make existing economic problems worse. He has acknowledged concerns about housing and cost-of-living pressures but argued that Australia has a housing shortage that needs to be addressed alongside migration policy.
The dispute comes as the federal government and Coalition negotiate over changes to Australia’s migration program, with both major political groupings under pressure to reduce net overseas migration. The Coalition has proposed linking migration levels to housing construction, while the federal government has been considering changes to the migration and visa system.
Hanson’s response adds another layer to the broader political debate over migration, housing, workforce shortages and the economic contribution of skilled migrants.
Australia By Aussie previously reported on Malinauskas’s warning against cutting migration to appease One Nation and on the role migration has played in population growth outside Australia’s capital cities.
Migration drives almost half of regional Australia’s population growth provides further context on migration and regional population change.
Sources: AdelaideNow; ABC News