Jim Chalmers slams drastic push to slash immigration – and reveals why he thinks it won’t help the housing crisis

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the coalition’s proposal to reduce migration inflows into Australia by 25 percent could cost the economy tens of billions of dollars.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton used his budget response on Thursday to announce a crackdown on migration and foreign property investment as part of his solution to solve the housing crisis.

Under the coalition’s proposal, the number of permanent visas granted annually would be reduced from 185,000 to 140,000, with a targeted reduction in international student numbers.

Dr. Chalmers said the measure would “devastate” the economy and worsen an already crippling skills shortage in the construction and healthcare sectors.

‘It will cost the economy billions of dollars, but even the kind of estimates you will see are conservative because it is not possible to fully assess the damage that Peter Dutton would do to the skills of this country, to our hospital, to our building sites,” Dr Chalmers told the ABC on Sunday.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton used his budget response on Thursday to announce a crackdown on migration and foreign property investment as part of his solution to solve the housing crisis (stock image)

“By our estimate, he has a hole of at least $40 billion in his budget, but it will also cost the economy billions of dollars, not to mention the damage he is doing to the skills we need to to build a future.’

But when asked whether reducing migration would help alleviate the housing crisis, Dr Chalmers conceded: ‘On the margins at best.’

Labor, meanwhile, plans to halve the net overseas migration figure to 260,000 and slightly reduce permanent migration inflows.

“The best way to complete this migration program is to do it in a careful and methodical manner. I don’t think you can describe what Peter Dutton is proposing as deliberate or methodical,” Dr Chalmers added.

“We have found the most effective and appropriate balance, which recognizes that we need to reduce the net number of overseas migrations and the permanent number also a little bit. But we can do that in a way that doesn’t destroy our economy and the skills of our economy.

He added that reducing migration cannot be a substitute for “building more houses and that is why this is one of our key focuses in the budget.”

The Treasurer argued that the Coalition’s plans to ban foreign homebuyers from purchasing existing properties for two years would have little impact on providing immediate housing assistance.

He said recent data shows that of the fewer than 5,000 homes purchased by foreigners, about 1,300 of them are classified as established homes.

“This won’t make nearly the difference he claims,” he said.

Dr. Chalmers said the measure would “devastate” the economy and worsen an already crippling skills shortage in the construction and healthcare sectors.

Previously, Nationals leader David Littleproud suggested that regional universities that rely on large numbers of foreign students would be given a reduced cap on foreign students under the opposition migration plan.

He said the coalition, if re-elected, would revive a special visa for agriculture to divert more skilled migrants from metropolitan cities to rural towns.

Asked how it would be possible to increase the number of migrants moving into the regions under a drastically reduced migration target, Mr Littleproud said this would be possible if “hard” decisions were made in other sectors of the economy.

“What you do is prioritize where the need is in the economy and where the pressure points are,” he told Sky News.

“It’s about taking the tough decisions that prioritize the areas where the economy needs support to continue growing, and especially in the regions where we want to be very clear that we don’t want the regions to suffer from worsening problems . in capitals.’