Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has declared the Coalition would slash net overseas migration to 100,000 a year if elected, taking it to its lowest level since the late 1990s outside of COVID in a desperate bid to outdo One Nation and make Australia less reliant on temporary visa holders.

Under his plan, net overseas migration would be cut by two-thirds to 100,000 a year during the Coalition’s first two years in government — taking it to the lowest point since 1997 and 1998 during John Howard’s first term as Liberal prime minister before a population surge.

Immigration numbers, factoring in arrivals of at least a year and equivalent departures, would then gradually increase to 130,000 in its third year and 160,000 in its fourth year, with housing supply determining future immigration levels beyond year five, sparking anger from Australia’s biggest employer group that is normally more aligned with the Liberal Party.

A week out from his eight-month anniversary as Liberal leader, Mr Taylor promised the Coalition would be returning immigration to pre-mining boom levels to help alleviate Australia’s housing and transport infrastructure bottlenecks, by reducing the number of temporary visa holders by 650,000 over four years, halving Australia’s refugee intake, capping new international student enrolments at 240,000 and abolishing bridging and temporary graduate visas.

“What we are proposing today is the biggest cut to immigration in the history of this country. That is what is necessary right now, given the failures of the Labor Government,” he told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday with an inaccurate historic exaggeration.

“That will take pressure off roads, schools, infrastructure, and houses, and that will ensure that our country has the breathing space it needs.”

With close to three million temporary visa holders in Australia, Mr Taylor said he wanted a greater focus on permanent skilled migrants, as temporary graduate visas were scrapped for those wanting to continue studying in Australia and bridging visas were abolished for those trying to stay in Australia for longer.

“Australia should be a home, not a hotel and right now we’re seeing under Labor a guest worker economy,” he said.

“We want people coming to this country who are committed to the future of our country.”

The Opposition Leader’s promise to slash net overseas migration by the biggest level in history via a two-thirds reduction is an exaggeration with Gough Whitlam’s Labor government reducing it from 87,248 in 1974 to just 13,515 in 1975 — which marked an 85 per cent reduction in a year during an inflation crisis.

The Liberal leader’s declaration also marks a clear repudiation of the immigration surge that occurred during the late 2000s mining boom under the Howard government that continued under six successive Labor and Coalition prime ministers.

“What we’re announcing today will bring the numbers down to below the levels they were at under the Howard Liberal-National government. It will be putting Australia first and it will be putting our national interest first,” Mr Taylor said.

The 100,000 target would be less than a third of the 301,000 net overseas migration number recorded in 2025 under Labor and would be the lowest intake since 1998, outside of COVID, with the announcement occurring three weeks after One Nation unveiled its plan to make 750,000 temporary visa holders leave Australia over three years before net overseas migration settled at 130,000 a year.

“It’s existential for our country,” Mr Taylor said when asked about the Coalition’s future existence as it consistently trailed both One Nation and Labor in multiple opinion polls.

Their proposed immigration number would also be less than half the 245,000 net overseas migration forecast by Treasury for 2026-27, before an expected fall to 225,000 the following financial year and unlike One Nation, the Coalition has sought advice from the Parliamentary Budget Office.

“We are confident that this package is Budget neutral,” Mr Taylor said.

“It will strengthen the economy, not weaken it.”

Beyond the Coalition’s fifth year in power, net overseas migration would be capped at the level of home building completions, which stood at 173,367 in the year to the end of March.

This Coalition policy is similar to what the losing Conservative Party of Canada took to last year’s election.

“To get that breathing space, we need to get the numbers down to those levels,” Mr Taylor said.

“Longer term, which was the essence of your question, yes, it will be capped based on housing supply.”

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australia’s biggest employer group that is usually more sympathetic to the Coalition than union-affiliated Labor, criticised Mr Taylor, who argued the immigration cuts would be Budget-neutral.

“Undoubtedly today, the Coalition say that their policy is the largest cut in migration in Australia’s history,” chief executive Andrew McKellar told reporters in Canberra.

“That is not a good thing and that’s not what we need at this point in time.

“The reality is that if we are going to cut levels of migration to the extent that the Coalition says that it will, that will undermine the growth rate of the Australian economy and our future growth potential. And that is not a good thing.”

Mr Taylor said the Coalition’s plan would also reduce the number of temporary visa holders by about 650,000 over four years, while increasing temporary skilled visas by 100,000.

“There will be a 100,000 increase in skilled visa, temporary skilled visas. This is a focus on the skills we need as a country, which won’t be determined by union officials. It’ll be determined by the national interest and the interest of our economy and our businesses in this country,” he said.

The Coalition would also halve Australia’s humanitarian intake from 20,000 to 10,000 places a year, while keeping the permanent migration program capped at 185,000, with this portion covering skilled migrants.

Working holiday makers will also pay a higher fee unless they chose to work in regional areas, which are home to fruit and vegetable harvesting roles.

Shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam said the Coalition would retain the ability to increase the humanitarian intake where required.

“Of course, we would retain the right to surge that number or augment that number where need arises,” he said.

Temporary graduate visas would also be abolished, while family reunion visas would remain unchanged and the Coalition would focus skilled migration on sectors facing shortages, including construction.

The Coalition would also restore an intelligence function within the Department of Home Affairs to identify visa overstayers, with Senator Duniam saying about 77,000 people were now overstaying their visas.

Net overseas migration surged following the pandemic, reaching 387,000 in 2022 and a record 547,300 in 2023 before moderating to 340,800 in 2024 and 301,000 in 2025.

Ahead of Mr Taylor’s announcement, One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, a former Nationals deputy prime minister, accused the Coalition of adopting his party’s hard-line approach to immigration.

“I congratulate the Coalition for basically coming up with our policy. There’s a bit of nuance there but you know what, it shows an endorsement of where One Nation is off to,” Mr Joyce told Nine on Tuesday.

“We are moving the agenda. We are moving both the Labor Party, we’re moving the Coalition, that’s what we intend to do. Obviously, we’re not that outrageous because they’ve gone and mimicked us.”

Independent teal MP Zali Steggall criticised calls for dramatic migration cuts, arguing Australia had an infrastructure problem rather than an immigration problem.

“If we cut immigration too dramatically, what we will be in Australia is older, poorer and dumber because the reality is much of our economy relies on immigration, from aged care to nurses, doctors, construction,” she told Nine.

Temporary student visa holders were the largest group of migrant arrivals in 2024-25, accounting for 157,000 of the 306,000 net overseas migration total.

Mr Taylor’s announcement was also made in the eve of the third anniversary of Sydney Islamists celebrating the Hamas-led slaughter of Israelis in scenes of jubilation in Lakemba and at the Opera House.

“That’s why we need a red light to radicals, that’s why we need to screen people coming into this country based on whether they share our values,” he said.