Australian net overseas migration falls to lowest level since 2022 – but the Coalition says that’s still too high

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show migration growth is above pre-pandemic levels but tracking steadily down Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Net overseas migration added 301,000 people to Australia’s population last year, the lowest increase since mid-2022 but still above the pre-pandemic pace. The new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics come amid an increasingly fraught political debate around immigration, after Pauline Hanson’s declaration that Australian society should be “monocultural”. After collapsing below zero during the Covid lockdowns, annual migration growth sprang back to as high as 556,000 in late 2023. Since then, net overseas migration (Nom) has tracked steadily down – a fact the government has been keen to emphasise amid repeated attacks from the Coalition that Labor has failed to bring the numbers of arrivals back to “sustainable” levels. In a statement after the release of the data, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said “the facts clearly show that net overseas migration is coming down under Labor”. The May budget had forecast Nom – the differen