The competing visions for Australia's migration system

After weeks of headlines dominated by One Nation, the federal government has unveiled its long-awaited migration reforms.

Notably, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke did not name Pauline Hanson's party during his 35-minute National Press Club speech on Thursday, and he was quick to point out the policy had been in the works since last year.

"It's simply demonstrably wrong to suspect that somehow this is a recent bit of work done to deal with a political climate; it's not," he said.

Yet some analysts say it's difficult not to see the government as responding to the rise of One Nation, which has overtaken Labor on the primary vote and is the favoured party on immigration, according to some polls.

Nine newspapers reported Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was concerned about the optics of using a forum like the Press Club to draw more attention to an issue being dominated by One Nation — a claim Burke rejected on Thursday.

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One Nation announced its migration policy earlier this week, promising to end "mass migration" by cutting temporary visas by 750,000 over three years and delivering net negative migration to ease pressure on housing, healthcare and infrastructure.

That follows the Coalition's plan announced in April, while the Greens' policy platform is the same one it took to the 2025 federal election.

With the political battle lines drawn on one of the most major issues facing Australia, where do these parties stand on migration?

The government wants to reduce Australia's net overseas migration (NOM) figure from its current level of 292,100.

It has forecast figures of 245,000 for 2026-27 and 225,000 each year thereafter.

Burke acknowledged in his address there were housing pressures, but rejected claims Australia was experiencing mass migration.

"We need immigration to soften enough that housing has a chance to catch up," he said.

He outlined three parts to the reform: who arrives, who stays and who leaves.