Liberal MP Garth Hamilton has suggested Australia adopt a scheme to pay unemployed migrants between $6000 and $9000 to return to their home countries, arguing it would relieve pressure on housing, hospitals and schools.
Speaking to Ben Fordham on 2GB, the Queensland backbencher said the idea has been “very successful overseas” and framed it as a fair way of addressing the challenges created by record migration levels. “It acknowledges, I think, a fairness. People have come over here in good faith. They’ve tried to get their part of our Australian dream, and good luck to them. That’s fantastic. They’ve contributed. But the reality is a lot of migrants who are coming over here aren’t finding work. They aren’t finding their housing. They aren’t finding that things were as rosy as they’d hoped because of the high immigration policies that we’ve employed,” Mr Hamilton said.
He argued that high immigration was adding to strains in everyday life. “Things haven’t quite been working out. And I think if we look at the impact that our high immigration is having on housing availability, on rent, on lineups at your hospital, the number of kids in schools, we have to address this. We have to address it now. We’re not going to build our way out of this problem, Ben.”
The policy, he said, was not about ideology but practicality. “This is not a conversation with immigration is good or bad or whether immigrants are good or bad people. It’s not that. This is about the rate of immigration. Right now it’s been way too high. And if all we do is just cut the rate of immigration, that will help a bit down the track, but it won’t solve the immediate problem now and today.”
Citing overseas examples, he pointed to Japan after the 2008 financial crisis and EU countries such as Sweden, France and Germany. “In Sweden, look, the offer they put around is about $6,000, and they figured that covers most of the expenses. Germany is similar to that money. France offers a little bit more. They’re around the $9,000 mark. But all of this is trying to give people a pathway home. This is a cost that Australia is already bearing, either through welfare or the high rents that we’re paying because of the extra demand on housing in Australia. So this is a cost that we’re just moving from one place to another. But what it’s doing is taking that pressure off, particularly young Australians looking for a house.”
He described the proposal as “a reasonably compassionate and fair approach,” stressing that it would be voluntary. “This isn’t forcing people out. This is a voluntary scheme. That’s how it’s been applied overseas, and that would be my suggestion. But I think what it does is it says people, look, you’ve come here and you’ve tried, and if it hasn’t worked out, fair enough. But I think what this does is also give a fair go to Australians as well.”
On the broader debate about citizenship and migration, Hamilton said: “The biggest bit, though, I think we’ve devalued what it means to be an Australian citizen. And that’s through a lot of processes. That’s us talking poorly about our history, about not thinking that Australia is a great place, talking ourselves down constantly, and having this idea that multiculturalism means that all our cultures have an equal value. I’m pretty confident our culture is the best in the world. I’ve lived around the world, and there’s nowhere like Australia. I think we hold ourselves too lightly, and we don’t treasure the wonderful thing that is being an Australian citizen.”
He also said productivity debates should consider migration’s impact on wages and opportunities. “If we could do one thing right now at that productivity forum, I think it would go away from a higher tax approach, away from a higher immigration approach and say, look, Australia is a great place. We do wonderful things. Let’s get back to being who we are. Let’s do the things that we’re good at instead of constantly trying to change us and transition us to some new way of being that I don’t think is in the Australian spirit.”
While migration numbers have fallen from a peak of 446,000 in 2023–24, they remain well above pre-pandemic levels. The government has forecast net overseas migration will fall to 225,000 by 2026–27, though the Coalition has not finalised its position on future targets.
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