Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I hope the shadow treasurer is aware that, when he blows on the dog whistle, they can hear it in Goldstein too. And, when the shadow treasurer said he was prepared to be in a government with One Nation, I think they heard that in Goldstein too. When it comes to the migration numbers in the budget and the housing numbers in the budget, it's very inconvenient to those opposite that, when we came to office, the net overseas migration number was surging. What we've been able to do in the four years that we've been in office is to see net overseas migration come down 45 per cent off its peak. And there are additional steps in the budget to put more downward pressure on net overseas migration.

So 45 per cent down from the peak after the surge that we inherited from those opposite—that's on the net overseas migration numbers, down 45 per cent from their peak. In the last full year, that came in as 30,000 fewer than the Treasury forecast in the budget. We've been managing that down. Obviously there are calculations around departures and the like which are altering the forecast this year and next year, but, overall, net overseas migration has come down. I didn't see you mentioning that when you were traipsing from disappointed door to disappointed door in Farrer. That's the first point. The second point—and the housing minister just made this point, I think, in a very compelling way—is our budgets, and not just the budget on Tuesday night but all our budgets, have been—

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