Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Of course, he didn't say it just once. He went on to say this in October 2022: 'In addition to a domestic workforce, of course, we need migration. We need migration.' It wasn't a stutter. It was a repeat of how important it was, just to emphasise it. Then, in his first budget reply, because there was no policy there at all, he said this:

… I … brought in record numbers of people …

Boasting he was. But it wasn't just him. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition said this:

… we know that urgently business needs a workforce and much of that workforce … needs to come from overseas.

That's what they had to say. The shadow minister for immigration said:

… we need to get our international students back, we need to get our working holiday visa maker visa holders back.

The whole of their front bench were out there saying, 'We need more people!'

And of course that's before I have time to go through the wrecked migration program, with that troika that were there—

See this speech in context