Coalition considers plan to slash net overseas immigration by nearly half its current rate, leaked documents reveal

Opposition leader Angus Taylor has ordered a review of seven policy areas, including a drastic cut to immigration levels. Photograph: Darren England/AAP View image in fullscreen Opposition leader Angus Taylor has ordered a review of seven policy areas, including a drastic cut to immigration levels. Photograph: Darren England/AAP Coalition considers plan to slash net overseas immigration by nearly half its current rate, leaked documents reveal Exclusive: Taskforce to mull options to cut level to 150,000-200,000, higher than One Nation’s hard 130,000 cap and Howard-era’s 100,000 target Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Coalition is planing to cut Australia’s annual net overseas immigration levels to 150,000-200,000, according to a confidential policy roadmap that reveals Angus Taylor is preparing to fight a possible early election. An internal document circulated to senior Coalition MPs details the key policies the opposition wants to build its election platform on, as it rebuilds from its catastrophic 2025 loss. The document shows Taylor wants the Coalition’s “full platform” ready for a sign-off in February 2027, suggesting he wants to be prepared if Anthony Albanese calls an early election and to avoid the last-minute policy chaos that plagued Peter Dutton’s 2025 campaign. After ousting Sussan Ley as Liberal leader in February, Taylor has been overseeing policy groups in seven priority areas: the economy, energy, families, better government services, housing, migration and national security. The work of each taskforce - which is led by relevant shadow ministers - focuses on a specific policy “problem” the Coalition wants to solve. For example, the question put to the migration taskforce is: “How can Australia reduce net overseas migration to 150,000-200,000 per year while minimising budget and economic impacts and strengthening social cohesion and Australia values?” Taylor has vowed to slow arrival numbers as part of a hardline immigration strategy, but has not publicly committed to a specific target. The range under consideration would be a significant cut to the existing level, which was 306,000 people in 2024-2025. It would be higher than One Nation’s hard 130,000-person visa cap and the Howard-era net overseas immigration level of about 100,000 that is supported by former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott. Dutton pledged to cut net overseas migration to 160,000 in his first year if he won the election. In a statement a spokesperson for Taylor did not dispute that a 150,000-200,000 target was under consideration. “As the leader has said, on migration the numbers have been too high and the standards have been too low,” the spokesperson said. “We have announced the first instalment of our Australian Values First Migration Plan and will have more to say over the term. “We are considering the full range of options because migration must be at a level Australia can absorb, with enough homes, services and social cohesion to support it.” Taylor last month unveiled the first planks of an immigration policy that is designed to discriminate against people who didn’t subscribe to “Australian values”. The opposition leader’s suggestion that people who migrate from liberal democracies were more likely to integrate prompted some concerns internally about further alienating Chinese Australians, who abandoned the Coalition at the past two federal elections. Managing the relationship with Chinese Australians is part of the brief for Taylor’s taskforce on national security. “How can the Coalition talk candidly and with moral clarity about our security environment, while ensuring that Chinese Australians feel celebrated for their past and future contributions to Australia?” the internal policy roadmap states. The document reveals the Coalition want to lift productivity by 0.5 to 0-7% per year and improve housing affordability within two years. The taskforce on families has been asked to look at options for a sweeping overhaul of the education, tax-and-transfer and social policy system and encourage “workforce participation and family formation”. 31:04 How Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is changing politics: Full Story newsroom edition – video The government services taskforce will explore options to reduce costs, including through “right-sizing” the public service, opening the door to potential cuts to the federal bureaucracy. The document shows the Coalition is planning a messaging blitz of voters in 33 target seats to coincide with next Thursday’s budget-in-reply speech, a platform that opposition leaders traditionally use to announce a new policy. The roadmap states the Coalition want to have a “full platform” of policies “ready for pre-election finalisation and sign-off” in February 2027 – more than a year out from the scheduled date of the next federal election. The timeframe indicates Taylor wants to be prepared for a possible 2027 election and avoid the policy chaos that derailed Dutton’s campaign. “We are doing the policy work early because Australians deserve a serious, costed and credible alternative to a government that has lost control of the economy, the budget and our borders,” the opposition leader’s spokesman said. Explore more on these topics Coalition Liberal party Australian politics Australian immigration and asylum Migration news Share Reuse this content