Penfold welcomes Coalition’s Australia-First Migration Plan

THE Coalition’s Australia-First Migration Plan would reduce pressure on housing and essential services while protecting the workforce needs of regional communities, according to Federal Member for Lyne Alison Penfold.

Penfold said the policy recognises that Australia needs both a sustainable level of migration and targeted arrangements to help regional employers fill genuine shortages.

“Lyne residents want to know migration is being managed at a level our housing, infrastructure and services can support,” she said.

“Those are reasonable concerns, and they deserve a considered response.

“At the same time, our abattoir, farmers, tourism operators, hospitality and other businesses need confidence they can find workers when local recruitment cannot meet their needs.

“The Nationals have made sure those regional needs are recognised in this plan.”

Under the Coalition’s policy, net overseas migration would be reduced to 100,000 a year for the first two years, before reaching around 160,000 in year four. The number of temporary visa holders would fall by around 650,000 over four years, while the permanent migration program would remain capped at 185,000 places annually.

Penfold said the plan would prioritise higher-skilled migrants, strengthen temporary visa rules and align migration with Australia’s capacity to build homes and provide services.

“For Lyne, the regional protections are particularly important,” she said.

“Our agricultural communities need reliable access to workers, whether skilled or seasonal, and our coastal towns need staff to help local accommodation providers, cafés, restaurants and tourism businesses through their busiest periods.

“A national migration policy must understand how regional economies actually work.”

The Coalition’s regional measures include:

– Protecting backpacker workers: reversing Labor’s ballot system and caps for second- and third-year Working Holiday Maker visa extensions.

– Encouraging regional work: exempting regional areas from proposed increases in Working Holiday Maker visa fees.

– Allowing backpackers to extend their stay onshore: retaining onshore applications for second- and third-year Working Holiday Maker visas.

– Introducing a new Agriculture Visa from 2030: providing a dedicated visa to help meet agricultural workforce needs.

– Retaining the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme: making no changes to the scheme under this policy.

– Prioritising regional employers: using Ministerial Directions to prioritise employer-sponsored skilled migration applications in regional Australia.

– Protecting regional skills pathways: providing post-study transitional visas for international students studying at regional universities, as well as those completing PhDs or studying health or education.

Penfold said backpackers made a practical contribution to regional Australia, helping businesses manage seasonal peaks and spending money in the communities where they work.

She said making a worker’s second or third year dependent on a ballot created uncertainty for both the worker and the employer, whereas the Coalition’s policy would reverse that approach and maintain an incentive to work in regional communities.