Breaking: Burke announces ‘backpacker ballot’ in promised migration cuts
Thousands of working backpackers are being targeted, as Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke reveals the federal government’s plan to slash migration after weeks of debate.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed international students would not be able to bring a family member or partner with them to Australia in the future, but the government would not “be breaking up families on shore”.
Burke said the government would also “curtail” working holiday visa numbers, introduce a backpacker “ballot” to limit backpackers staying for multiple years and introduce a “no further stay” visitor visa provision.
Backpackers in their second year will be capped at 45,000 while third-year backpackers will be cut from 31,000 places to 5000. Farmers and other employers have raised fears that curtailing working holiday visas would severely impact their ability to operate.
“You will still have to have completed the regional work to be able to be part of those ballots,” Burke said about the changes today.
He revealed the plan at the National Press Club, more than a month after his initial appearance was cancelled at the last minute, amid disagreement within cabinet about the extent of the changes.
The suite of policy changes, which does not include new legislation after negotiations with the coalition broke down, will also strengthen compliance measures forcing people without a valid visa to leave the country.
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Burke claimed the changes would help bring net overseas migration from 292,100 to meet budget forecasts of 245,000 in 2026/27 and 225,000 each year thereafter, in a statement released as he took the stage at the National Press Club in Canberra.
Burke said today’s migration reforms were not a response “to deal with a political climate”.
“Every measure I’m going to go through had been largely worked up and formalised by February of this year,” Burke said.
“It’s simply demonstrably wrong to suspect that somehow this is a recent bit of work done to deal with a political climate.”
It comes after SA Premier Peter Malinauskas made national headlines last week with his own migration pitch saying “unreasonably slashing our immigration intake is not going to fix our problems, it is only going to make them worse”.
The staunchly pro-migration Labor state leader used the argument that migration was essential to filling job vacancies and warned 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.
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The migration policy had already drawn intense scrutiny before it was released today, with Labor ministers dispelling rumours of internal disagreements over the hot-button issue.
Labor has already tweaked visa processing settings in a bid to bring down net overseas migration. This had sparked a backlash from employers like farmers, who say a processing freeze for working holiday maker visas left them short of staff during harvesting season.
The skilled migration program would prioritise applicants in healthcare, construction, education, law enforcement, defence, resources, agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing.
And tourists would be unable to extend their stays in Australia with the introduction of a ”no further stay” condition on visitor visas.
The current freeze on processing of working holiday visas will come to an end, with processing times for applications to be stabilised at three months.
Burke said there would also be a crackdown on “rogue agents” who approved visa applications without merit.
The federal government would also be handed greater powers to cancel visas for migrants involved in crimes targeting children, domestic violence and hate crimes.
”The government supports immigration but is opposed to anyone rorting the immigration system,” Burke said.
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