By Lucinda Garbutt-Young in Canberra

Australia’s leaders have been warned not to fall into hysteria about migration levels just to appease One Nation, as federal political parties struggle to confirm their policy positions.

People worried about migration rates were more likely to be anxious about economic impacts, including housing supply, than they were to be racist, South Australia’s Premier Peter Malinauskas said in a speech at The Sydney Institute on Wednesday night.

The staunchly pro-migration Labor state leader used the argument to warn against falling prey to the migration crackdown desires of Pauline Hanson’s right-wing party, which has surged in the polls since the May 2025 federal election.

“I’m here to insist that Australians in positions of leadership must now be on stages like this one and explain how unreasonably slashing our immigration intake is not going to fix our problems,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“It is only going to make them worse.”

On the national scene, debate is intensifying as One Nation links Australia’s migration rate with the housing crisis and inner-city crime.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke delayed a National Press Club speech in August in which he was widely expected to announce migration cuts. It is understood the cabinet is still finalising plans.

Australia’s net overseas migration fell to 301,000 in 2025, which was a 45 per cent decrease from the post-Covid peak in 2023 and down 9 per cent from 2024.

One Nation has called for the rate to be slashed to 130,000 visas per year, though numbers presented by party members in recent months have varied.

The coalition wants lower levels correlating to the number of homes built the year prior, while pursuing what its policy terms a “values-based” scheme to ensure migrants support the so-called Australian way of life.

In August, coalition housing spokesperson Andrew Bragg used a speech at the National Press Club to throw around migration policy ideas his party had not agreed to.

In contrast, Liberal MP Andrew Hastie said on Thursday his party was working on detailed plans.

“We do need to cut immigration, but we need to do it sensibly,” Mr Hastie told ABC Radio.

“I can tell you now that we are doing very detailed, long discussions based on costing and modelling for our immigration policy.”

But Mr Malinauskas did not agree with the coalition’s arguments, calling for a more nuanced understanding from all parties on skills shortages.

“Australia doesn’t really have a migration crisis so much as a housing crisis,” he told ABC Radio.

“If we have a housing crisis, we would do well to focus our skills policy on making sure that we’re bringing in the very workers that we require in the housing and construction industry.”

The premier said it was incumbent on leaders to make strong economic arguments for a well-calibrated migration program that did not arbitrarily block people from entering the country.

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