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Migrant boom pushes Australian population to 27.5 million: ABS
A conservative think-tank says Australia’s latest population numbers show the country’s migration intake is unsustainable, but the government says the numbers are falling.
Duncan Evans
@Duncanevans01
September 18, 2025 – 3:05PMNewsWire
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Migration has ‘important role’ to play within Australia
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says migration still has an “important role to play” within Australia.
Mr Malinauskas told Sky…
A conservative think-tank has warned Australia’s immigration program is degrading living standards as the country’s population lifts to more than 27.5 million on the back of a fresh inflow of migrants.
In the year to March, the population increased 1.6 per cent, or an extra 423,400 people, the ABS reported on Thursday.
Annual natural increase, or births minus deaths, added 107,400 to the population, while net overseas migration added 315,900 people.
The Institute of Public Affairs, a think-tank that promotes free market economics, said the numbers remained at historic levels and “mainstream Australians” were “paying the price”.
“The latest net overseas migration data confirms that, despite recent moderation to the intake from unprecedented levels, the size of the intake remains highly elevated on pre-pandemic levels,” IPA deputy executive director Daniel Wild said.
“A much harder and faster reduction to the intake is required to restore confidence in Australia’s migration program, which is making Australians poorer, housing unaffordable, and our society more divided.
“Once again the latest data shows that the unprecedented surge of Australia’s population, underpinned by mass migration, continues, with mainstream Australians paying the price.”
This graph shows quarterly average net overseas migration levels by decade. Picture: IPA, ABS
Australia’s population has ticked over 27.5 million, the ABS reported on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard
Mr Wild said the federal government had “deliberately and dramatically increased Australia’s migration intake”.
“(That) has contributed to the destruction of the dream of home ownership,” he said.
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“It has played a large part in creating a prolonged per capita economic recession and has fanned the flames of social division.
“The elevated level of migration is no longer a post-pandemic catch up, but the new normal under the Albanese government.
“It is something that Australia simply cannot afford, with housing, infrastructure, and services unable to keep up.”
In the previous year, the country recorded 493,800 net overseas migrants.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke, responding to the numbers of Thursday, said the decline in numbers showed the government had restored integrity to the immigration system.
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‘Highest immigration rates in the West’: Mass migration blamed for fuelling housing crisis
Human Events Senior Editor Jack Posobiec has criticised the government’s mass migration policies…
“Net overseas migration has declined more than 40 per cent from the post-Covid peak in 2022-23,” he said.
“We have accomplished this by restoring integrity to the system while ensuring that it still delivers the skills we need.
“Australia needs a migration system managed maturely and in the interests of the country, not determined by internal Coalition power struggles.”
The net overseas migration measure subtracts overseas departures from arrivals to produce the final intake number.
The measure is different from the permanent migration figure, though permanent migrants also make up a part of net overseas migrants.
Net Overseas Migrants also include temporary visitor on working holidays and students studying in Australia.
In the 2025 election, Labor and the Coalition battled over the proper size of the permanent migration target.
The Coalition, then led by Peter Dutton, pledged to reduce annual permanent migration from 185,000 a year to 140,000 for two years.
Mr Dutton also pledged to reduce net overseas migration.
Earlier this month, Mr Burke confirmed the government would maintain the 2025-26 permanent migration program at 185,000, which is the same as the 2024-25 intake.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke said the government had restored ‘integrity’ to Australian immigration program. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
The March for Australia rallies took place across major cities on August 31. Picture: NewsWire / Scott Powick
Migration numbers have become a political hot-button issue, as house prices continue to rise and infrastructure buckles under the growing weight of residents.
Last month, thousands marched in the controversial anti-immigration March for Australia rallies across major cities.
Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell spoke at the Melbourne rally.
WA boasts the fastest rising population, the ABS said, lifting 2.3 per cent, or an extra 67,500 people, from the previous year to hit 3.03 million.
Tasmania recorded the lowest population growth at just 0.2 per cent, or 1100 people, to 576,000.
The population of NSW increased 1.2 per cent, or 101,000, to 8.57 million, while Victoria jumped 1.8 per cent, or 124,600, to 7.05 million.
There were 295,900 births in the year to March, the BAS said, a 2.1 per cent jump from the previous year.
Deaths also rose 2.1 per cent across the year to 188,400.
The population also grew on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
In the March quarter, the natural increase figure jumped 48 per cent from the previous quarter, or 11,100 people, to 34,200 people.
Net overseas migration was 110,100, an increase of 44,000 from the previous quarter.
Read related topics:Immigration
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