Headlines: One Nation's 'racist' ad, the Coalition's migration plan + ASOS hacked

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:08)

Hello, Sacha Barbour Gatt with you. Welcome to The Briefing. The Greens have a new leader. Can he reverse the party's fortunes following years of stagnant voter support?

SPEAKER_2 (0:17)

Sometimes it feels like you're down there dealing with like, there's the Greens and then there's these three death cults down there who just seem to have no interest in the future of the planet.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:24)

My chat with David Shoebridge will be published today as a separate episode. You can get it in the feed right after headlines with Chris Spyrou on Wednesday, the 7th of October.

Chris Spyrou (0:37)

Morning, Sacha. We'll start with politics this morning and business and humanitarian groups are blasting the Coalition's newly released migration plan while farming leaders are backing it in.

SPEAKER_4 (0:46)

And what we are proposing today is the biggest cut to immigration in the history of this country.

Chris Spyrou (0:53)

Leader Angus Taylor speaking there yesterday, is unveiling the opposition's plan to reduce net overseas migration. So the number of people arriving minus those leaving from 292,000 a year to 100,000 for two years before settling on 160,000. That's well below Labor's target of 225,000 and closer to One Nation's longer term goal of 130,000. And just like the government and One Nation, the Coalition has temporary visa holders in its sites as well.

It wants about 650,000 fewer people here on temporary visas over four years. Most of that will come from scrapping the visa that lets international students stay and work after they graduate, while student visas specifically would also drop by more than 70,000 under the plan.

SPEAKER_4 (1:41)

That will take pressure off roads, off schools, off infrastructure, off houses.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (1:47)

Now, a way that they are kind of trying to level that out is by introducing some new visas as well. One is for skilled workers on major projects capped at 15,000 a year, and a dedicated visa for agriculture. Now, as for backpackers, the plan would scrap Labor's new ballot that limits who gets a second or third year. Under the Coalition's plan, if they do regional farm work, they can stay on without having to leave the country to reapply.

SPEAKER_4 (2:14)

We're cutting the numbers, but we're also raising the standards. And that's exactly why we're confident that this is a budget-neutral package, and it will strengthen the economy, not weaken it. We're focused on those areas of skills that we know are needed. And that's why there's such a strong focus on skills in this package, skills in areas where we really need it, in health, in regional areas, for instance. We know that's required, and we know our small businesses need it.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (2:38)

Now business groups aren't buying it. We've heard from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is warning cuts this big will slow the economy. While the Business Council of Australia, which represents our biggest companies, has said chasing an arbitrary number risks making skills shortages worse.

Its argument is that plenty of businesses already can't find enough workers, and fewer people coming in means more jobs left unfilled. Farmers though are on board with the Coalition's plan. We've heard from the National Farmers Federation, which has called it a fit for purpose system that's essential for food production and regional towns.

Chris Spyrou (3:14)

Now we knew most of this was coming like we spoke about yesterday in headlines. Most of these numbers we knew. But one thing that did catch people by surprise was the Coalition's plan to half Australia's humanitarian intake. So that's the places that we set aside for refugees and they want to half it. So now that will go down to 10,000 a year if elected. Catholic Social Services says, with so many people worldwide seeking safety, that would be a stain on Australia's national conscience. And the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has also come out to say that the Coalition is blaming migrants and refugees instead of finding real solutions. I want to point out Angus Taylor's tone and almost nervousness. Well, I was watching this presser yesterday and listening back to it this morning, you can hear I'm not entirely sold that this is all Angus Taylor's plan.

More so, I'm convinced that he's doing this to curb One Nation's rise. That's been the chatter with the Coalition for a long time here that they're trying to claw back ground loss to One Nation and they're trying to fight him here on migration. What a lot of political experts were out and about saying yesterday is that you're not going to beat One Nation when it comes to migration. No one is. Those who like One Nation's migration policy is never, ever, ever going to come to your parties. Interesting to hear him talking very carefully, but there was a particular quote or a particular thing that he said that caught my attention was he said, Australians can see the country they love changing for the worse and that this plan is all about protecting our way of life and getting back to a migration system that works for Australia. Interesting that he's tethering this changing Australia to migration and not other things because there's a bunch of other things that are changing the way that Australia looks, feels and sounds these days.