The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-09-17 · by Paul Sakkal, Brittany Busch, Nick Newling
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will introduce new measures aimed at restoring public confidence in Australia’s migration program, including increased deportations of 77,000 unlawful non-citizens and a ballot system for backpackers staying beyond their first year. The announcement comes as the government faces pressure to curb high net migration numbers, which have exceeded forecasts. Burke will also prioritize skilled workers in sectors like construction, health, defence, and agriculture, while restricting visa-hopping and student visas that allow bringing relatives. These moves are part of Labor’s efforts to reduce net migration from over 300,000 to around 225,000 by next year.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will ramp up deportations, introduce a ballot system for backpackers and prioritise construction workers as he seeks to restore confidence in the migration program and salvage Labor’s long-awaited reforms.
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he → ramp → reforms
More than a month after his initial speech was cancelled following a cabinet debate, Burke will try to stem bleeding to One Nation by balancing economic needs with a crackdown on those who “seek to rort or defraud the system”.
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who → cancel → system
They will include bolstered efforts to boot out of the country 77,000 unlawful non-citizens, as first revealed in this masthead.
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They → include → masthead
The government scheduled Burke’s speech on the same day as the Bureau of Statistics released a potentially damning set of stats on migration, and a day before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese departs to the United Nations in New York.
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Albanese → schedule → York
Released an hour before Burke spoke, the figures showed net migration moderating from 309,500 to 292,000.
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migration → release → 292,000
The number was slightly better than budget forecasts for this period but still well above Labor’s forecast of 245,000 for the 2026-27 year, justifying Labor’s desire to do more to bring down numbers.
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number → justify → numbers
Burke will also curtail visa-hopping and stop most students from bringing in relatives, pledge to pursue dodgy migration agents, and give higher priority to skilled workers in a range of sectors including health, defence and agriculture.
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Burke → curtail → health
Backpackers in the second and third year of their stay will have to submit to a ballot to see if they can remain, in a model that already applies for temporary migrants from China, India and Vietnam.
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that → have → China
Labor failed to get support from the Coalition for what the government believed were the toughest measures.
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government → fail → Coalition
This masthead reported last week that Albanese asked Opposition Leader Angus Taylor to create a new expression of interest system that would effectively strip students of the right to appeal against their visa refusals, as well as rules that would have tested the legal limits of the Commonwealth’s ability to remove the right to apply for asylum protection.
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that → report → protection
These major moves, which would have cut back on the rising number of bogus asylum claims, will now struggle to be enacted because Albanese would not agree to Taylor’s demands to make it harder to repatriate ISIS brides and bring the net migration rate down by about 50,000 fewer than Labor’s target.
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it → cut → target
Labor’s new measures aim to bring net migration down from more than 300,00 to 225,000 next year – Labor’s budgeted forecast after years of overshooting targets.
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measures → aim → targets
Burke admitted on Wednesday that the opposition’s recalcitrance to pass legislation had narrowed his options.
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recalcitrance → admit → options
“The government supports immigration but is opposed to anyone rorting the immigration system,” Burke said in a statement released ahead of his speech.
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Burke → support → speech
“Almost everyone who comes to Australia is a good guest in our country.
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who → come → country
These reforms are to ensure that our migration system can be better targeted to the current needs of Australia.”
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system → ensure → Australia
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is proposing to radically reduce the figure for three years, temporarily reducing Australia’s population, a proposal large business groups said would trigger a recession, before settling after three years on a net overseas migration target of about 130,000.
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groups → propose → 130,000
Nationals leader Matt Canavan sparked controversy inside the Coalition when he began advocating for negative migration in recent days, sparking a split with Taylor who does not support such a severe cut.
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who → spark → cut
The Coalition will soon release a policy to lower net migration to a figure below the previously announced 170,000.
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Coalition → release → 170,000
The lower figure will reflect expectations of lower housing supply over coming years, according to opposition sources.
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figure → reflect → sources
Burke will also announce a “No Further Stay” condition to make sure visitor visas are not misused, and update a ministerial direction to protect children and victims of domestic violence.
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visas → announce → violence
After business groups raised alarm bells about Labor’s go-slow on processing backpacker visas, Burke promised to ensure that processing times for backpacker applications would take no more than three months.
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times → raise → months
It is unclear if Burke’s announcement will go far enough to respond to community concern on migration.
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announcement → go → migration
Former Labor adviser and migration expert Henry Sherrell wrote last month that a “few tweaks” would not go far enough to fix a broken system and counter populists such as Hanson.
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tweaks → write → Hanson
After ministers last month raised concerns about the economic impact of Burke’s first proposal, the government said on Thursday, “Our focus is on attracting the skills Australia needs, supporting economic growth and productivity, and ensuring migration settings work for Australian workers and communities.”
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settings → raise → workers
“Australia welcomes people who make a genuine contribution to our country.
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who → welcome → country
Australia does not support people who seek to rort or defraud the system.
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who → support → system
We’re making changes to give us more control over who arrives, who stays and who leaves.”
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who → make → control
The Coalition said Labor’s heart was not in the migration overhaul.
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heart → say → overhaul
“Australians are being let down.
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Australians → let → ?
The only way this government can grow the economy is through migration, population growth.
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government → grow → migration
It’s failing Australians, and that’s because their economic policies have failed, absolutely failed.
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policies → fail → Australians
Australians are getting poorer, and this is their only answer to try and keep their budget,” Taylor told reporters.
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Taylor → get → reporters
Get across all our coverage
- Burke’s warning: Is Australia becoming a guest worker economy?
- As it happened: Labor unveils immigration overhaul
- What Australians really think: The migration pathways voters want slashed
-
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voters → get → pathways
Samantha Selinger-Morris and Brittany Busch discuss One Nation’s immigration plan
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Morris → discuss → plan
Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
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Subscribers → sign → newsletter
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