The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has accused the Coalition of using migrants and refugees as political targets after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor outlined plans to tighten migration policies and revive Temporary Protection Visas if elected.
The criticism followed Taylor’s budget reply speech, where he flagged a tougher approach to migration, welfare access and visa enforcement. The Coalition also raised concerns about visa overstayers and migration levels amid ongoing debate around housing affordability and the rising cost of living.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said the proposals risked increasing division within the community and reviving policies that had previously caused long-term uncertainty for refugees and asylum seekers.
Jana Favero, Deputy CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the Coalition was returning to “harmful, failed refugee policies of the past”.
“We all know someone who is a non-citizen or refugee who will be afraid right now about where the cuts will come from. Not only did his speech attack and demonise migrants but also undermined our protection system and the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum”
“Angus Taylor’s budget reply speech was pure political theatre. Political theatre that has real life consequences for people. We all know someone who is a non-citizen or refugee who will be afraid right now about where the cuts will come from. Not only did his speech attack and demonise migrants but also undermined our protection system and the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum.”
Favero said the Coalition’s proposal to reintroduce Temporary Protection Visas would reopen policies that had separated families and left many people in prolonged uncertainty.
“The Coalition’s dangerous decision to return to its harmful, failed refugee policies of the past shows what a mess they are in. They have no new policy ideas. Temporary Protection Visas have harmed countless people and kept many families apart for over a decade. So many are still trying to recover.”
The Coalition also referred to deporting “70,000 illegal overstayers”, a figure the ASRC said did not reflect the complexity of Australia’s migration and tribunal systems.
“Taylor’s comments tonight are inflammatory and desperate. The fact that he feels the need to dog-whistle about mass deportations of so-called ‘overstayers’, many of whom are actually trapped in a massively blown-out court and tribunal system created through years of Coalition underfunding, shows they are far more interested in stoking fear than delivering serious policy solutions.”
Migration policy has become a central issue in the national political debate, with both major parties facing pressure over housing supply, rental affordability and labour shortages.
The ASRC rejected suggestions that newly arrived migrants were immediately accessing welfare payments, saying waiting periods for many forms of assistance already existed under current rules.
“The language in tonight’s address misleads the nation by claiming that migrants are arriving and immediately accessing welfare payments, which is a blatant lie. In reality most of the restrictions he’s talking about already exist and there are lengthy wait periods for welfare payments.”
Under existing rules, many newly arrived migrants face waiting periods before accessing payments such as JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Parenting Payment.
The organisation also warned that large cuts to migration could worsen labour shortages in industries already struggling to recruit workers, including construction, healthcare, aged care and hospitality.
“The Coalition knows all this and is deliberately misleading Australians about how the welfare system already operates in order to whip up fear and division. It’s irresponsible and not credible economic policy. In fact, it would cause an economic and humanitarian catastrophe. It is fearmongering designed to scapegoat migrants and refugees for housing pressures and the rising cost of living instead of addressing the real causes.”
The Coalition has argued stronger migration controls are needed to ease pressure on housing and infrastructure, while critics say broader structural issues including housing supply and planning remain central to the affordability crisis.
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