Ley Signals Tougher Immigration Screening, Values Tests as Coalition Develops Policy to Cut Migrant Numbers
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Federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley confirmed Wednesday the Coalition is developing immigration policy that would include strengthened screening processes and tougher values assessments for migrants, while refusing to specify target numbers for reducing what she characterized as excessively high migration levels under the current government.
In an interview with ABC News Australia, Ley, the Liberal member for Farrer in New South Wales, outlined principles guiding Coalition immigration policy development while declining to provide specific numerical targets, citing ongoing policy work and the need to assess final government figures closer to the election.
“We’re working on our immigration policy,” Ley said. “I said when I became leader, the migration numbers are far too high. This is not a fault of any migrant or migrant community. I am a migrant to this country.”
The opposition leader’s comments follow reports in Nine newspapers that the Coalition is examining stronger screening procedures that would include more rigorous checks on migrants’ values, though Ley provided limited detail on what specific values would be assessed or how such evaluations would be conducted.
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Asked what values she wants migrants to demonstrate when entering Australia, Ley responded generally about policy development timelines rather than substantive criteria.
“We’re working on the principles of our policy and we need to look at what the government’s numbers are because every time they give us numbers, they revise them several times and they talk about permanent, we talk about permanent migration, net overseas migration,” Ley said.
The opposition leader characterized current migration levels as substantially above historical norms, citing government figures showing net overseas migration running one hundred thousand higher than the long-term pre-COVID average.
“What I can tell you though is that net overseas migration as announced by them earlier this year is a hundred thousand higher than the long-term average prior to COVID,” Ley said. “That number is too high and it’s clearly too high because as I travel Australia infrastructure is struggling.”
Ley’s framing emphasizes infrastructure capacity and community impact rather than cultural or security concerns as the primary justification for reducing migration numbers, potentially attempting to distinguish Coalition policy from approaches that emphasize cultural compatibility or national identity.
The opposition leader indicated the Coalition would announce immigration policy principles by year’s end, with detailed numerical targets to follow closer to the federal election once final government figures are available.
“We will announce our principles towards the end of the year as you would expect and closer to the election when we get the details and see the circumstances that we are about to inherit if we’re fortunate enough to be elected from labor then that naturally those details will come forward,” Ley said.
Ley emphasized the complexity of migration policy, noting multiple visa categories and streams that must be considered rather than a single overall target.
“The other thing about migration numbers it’s not just one number,” she said. “It’s the working holiday makers, it’s the skilled visas, who are very important to the areas where I live in rural and regional Australia. Skilled migrants make a lot of difference to our local small businesses. It’s overseas students, it’s humanitarian, it’s the family reunion intake.”
The opposition leader’s acknowledgment of skilled migration’s importance to rural and regional businesses suggests any Coalition policy would attempt to balance reduced overall numbers with continued access to workers in sectors and regions experiencing labor shortages.
“So there are many different streams and different visa categories,” Ley said. “And we’re looking at the whole system, including the integrity of the system, exactly as you would expect us to.”
Ley’s reference to examining system integrity aligns with media reports about strengthened screening and values testing, though she provided no specific detail on implementation mechanisms or criteria that would be applied.
The opposition leader’s personal background as a migrant to Australia featured prominently in her framing of the issue, potentially attempting to preempt accusations that reduced migration targets reflect xenophobia or hostility toward multicultural Australia.
“I am a migrant to this country,” Ley said when discussing migration levels, positioning herself as someone who understands migration’s positive contributions while still believing current numbers are unsustainable.
Immigration policy represents politically sensitive terrain for the Coalition, requiring careful navigation between voter concerns about infrastructure strain and labor market impacts versus Australia’s economic reliance on migration and the country’s multicultural identity.
The Liberal Party’s approach contrasts with some international conservative parties that have emphasized cultural preservation or national identity in migration debates, with Ley’s emphasis on infrastructure capacity and system integrity representing a more technocratic framing.
Questions remain about how Coalition values testing would operate in practice, what specific values would be assessed, and how such assessments would be conducted fairly and consistently across diverse migrant populations and source countries.
The timing of policy announcements—principles by year’s end with numerical details closer to the election—reflects standard opposition strategy of establishing broad direction early while preserving flexibility to respond to changing circumstances and government actions.
Ley’s development of immigration policy occurs as Australian employers in multiple sectors report difficulty finding workers, with migration representing a key component of labor supply in industries ranging from hospitality and agriculture to healthcare and technology.
The opposition leader’s acknowledgment of skilled migration’s importance to rural and regional businesses reflects political reality that Coalition-held electorates often depend heavily on temporary and permanent migration for economic viability.
Whether voters ultimately prioritize infrastructure concerns and reduced migration numbers over economic arguments about labor supply and business needs will significantly influence the electoral effectiveness of Coalition immigration policy.
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