Aug 5, 2026 · 39 min · 11 segments
Immigration is one of the most dominant and heated political topics of the moment, with the media extensively covering an apparent surge in anti-immigration sentiment among Australian voters…
Bernard KeaneGuest
Crystal AndrewsHost
I think we should start by just going over some numbers because there is a lot of confusion around this topic.
And if you're watching the video version of this episode, there'll be numbers on screen so you can follow along more easily.
So for the most recent lot of data that we have, the 24-25 financial year, net overseas migration was 306,000 people.
To compare to some years past, we had the most recent peak in the post-COVID era in the 22-23 financial year where net overseas migration was around 538,000.
And if we look back around 10 years prior to where we are today, the 14-15 financial year, net overseas migration was 184,000.
When it comes to the different types of visas for migrant arrivals in this current financial or this most recent financial year, the split between permanent visas and temporary visas is very heavily skewed towards temporary visas, about 568,000, only 88,000 permanent.
Breaking down into further different types, we have around 86,000 skilled visas, about 50-50 split almost of permanent versus temporary, family migration visas of around 24,000 and student visas make up the sort of bulk here again, 156,000, all of those, of course, being temporary visas.
But BK, you know, when you were looking into this topic of all of this data, which categories did you find the most relevant and the most productive, I guess, for people to kind of focus on in their discussions about immigration as a topic?
Well, I think that those numbers tell us that our ideas about migration, particularly if you're over 40, need to be updated to kind of reflect the facts.
Always and fundamentally about permanent migration of people and families to Australia to become Australians, to become part of Australia.
That idea of migration, I think, is one that is really embedded in the heads of people over 40.
When I talk about migration, that's what they're thinking about when they talk about it.
The idea of people coming to Australia permanently, becoming Australians, adopting Australia's values, or people might complain not adopting Australian values, but becoming part of our community.
Now, I think that kind of non-economic way of thinking about migration is now thoroughly out of date.
As those numbers that you went through just illustrated, temporary migration is the key part of our migration story.
And there's a very strong relationship between temporary migration and what we think of as the broader migration context, partly because, you know, if you're a temporary migrant, you're here as a foreign student, say, you still have the same impact as a permanent migrant does.
I think we should start by just going over some numbers because there is a lot of confusion around this topic.
And if you're watching the video version of this episode, there'll be numbers on screen so you can follow along more easily.
So for the most recent lot of data that we have, the 24-25 financial year, net overseas migration was 306,000 people.
To compare to some years past, we had the most recent peak in the post-COVID era in the 22-23 financial year where net overseas migration was around 538,000.
And if we look back around 10 years prior to where we are today, the 14-15 financial year, net overseas migration was 184,000.
When it comes to the different types of visas for migrant arrivals in this current financial or this most recent financial year, the split between permanent visas and temporary visas is very heavily skewed towards temporary visas, about 568,000, only 88,000 permanent.
Breaking down into further different types, we have around 86,000 skilled visas, about 50-50 split almost of permanent versus temporary, family migration visas of around 24,000 and student visas make up the sort of bulk here again, 156,000, all of those, of course, being temporary visas.
But BK, you know, when you were looking into this topic of all of this data, which categories did you find the most relevant and the most productive, I guess, for people to kind of focus on in their discussions about immigration as a topic?
Well, I think that those numbers tell us that our ideas about migration, particularly if you're over 40, need to be updated to kind of reflect the facts.
Always and fundamentally about permanent migration of people and families to Australia to become Australians, to become part of Australia.
That idea of migration, I think, is one that is really embedded in the heads of people over 40.
When I talk about migration, that's what they're thinking about when they talk about it.
The idea of people coming to Australia permanently, becoming Australians, adopting Australia's values, or people might complain not adopting Australian values, but becoming part of our community.
Now, I think that kind of non-economic way of thinking about migration is now thoroughly out of date.
As those numbers that you went through just illustrated, temporary migration is the key part of our migration story.
And there's a very strong relationship between temporary migration and what we think of as the broader migration context, partly because, you know, if you're a temporary migrant, you're here as a foreign student, say, you still have the same impact as a permanent migrant does.
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