Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

To deal with net overseas migration, which your question asks about, you have to go to the components of net overseas migration. The area that had the biggest growth was international students. For net overseas migration, the 31 per cent reduction that we've had year on year in the most recent figures is a direct reflection of the fact that this government has taken action on the unlimited nature of how international student visas were put in place. When it was actually put to the parliament—whether that should be fixed—those opposite, including the shadow minister who just asked the question, didn't amend the bill to say that maybe it should be a different number. They actually voted for student visas to be unlimited in Australia. That's their position, and then they want to get up and ask about what will happen with respect to net overseas migration.

There is a gap from a previous speech that Leader of the Opposition gave where he claimed a number as to how low he would get net overseas migration. He's made a couple of announcements to it, but he's actually still 220,000 places short. If you reduced the student visa system to zero, you still would not fix that gap. And it's not surprising that those opposite have no idea about how to run a system that is sustainable with integrity.

Let's have a look at what was said, in terms of the Richardson review, about how the Leader of the Opposition ran immigration. It said, 'A company whose owners were suspected, through the ownership of another company, of seeking to circumvent US sanctions against Iran had extensive suspicious money movements suggesting money laundering, bribery and other criminal activity.' Those opposite ran a system in complete disrepair. The only visa that they've said they will now act on is to bring back the one known as 'cash for visas', where you qualify for a visa to Australia on the basis that you've got cash and that's it.

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