Australia has never driven migration into reverse by design. Would slamming the brakes on be calamitous?
News Source
•Sun, 11 Oct 2026 14:00:28 GMT
📰 What Happened
Australia is considering deliberately driving net overseas migration into reverse, something it has never done on purpose. Guardian analysis notes migration only went backwards during crashes, wars, and pandemics. Economist Mark Cully calls such a policy ‘unprecedented’. The debate follows calls from One Nation and the Coalition to cut migration sharply.
🔍 The Backstory
Net migration fell below zero after the 1890s depression and during both world wars. Unemployment hit 32 per cent in 1932. Temporary migrants now make up more than double their share of the population compared with 15 years ago. Cully wrote ‘Waves of Plenty: Immigration and the Making of Australia’.
🎯 Why It Matters
Migration levels affect jobs, housing, wages, and who lives next door, so plans to cut them deeply touch almost every Australian.
Australia is considering deliberately driving net overseas migration into reverse, something it has never done on purpose. Guardian analysis notes migration only went backwards during crashes, wars, and pandemics. Economist Mark Cully calls such a policy ‘unprecedented’. The debate follows calls from One Nation and the Coalition to cut migration sharply.
Net migration fell below zero after the 1890s depression and during both world wars. Unemployment hit 32 per cent in 1932. Temporary migrants now make up more than double their share of the population compared with 15 years ago. Cully wrote ‘Waves of Plenty: Immigration and the Making of Australia’.
Migration levels affect jobs, housing, wages, and who lives next door, so plans to cut them deeply touch almost every Australian.