Migration policy has always been at the forefront of Australian politics.
From asylum seeker policy to the migration of skilled workers, SBS takes a look at some of the differences between Labor's and the Liberal's stance on immigration.
Liberals: 'Strong Border Protection'
Ahead of the 2022 federal election, the Liberal Party is marketing the slogan "Strong Border Protection".
At the start of the pandemic, the Coalition government closed Australia's borders to the rest of the world.
Now that migration restrictions around COVID-19 have eased, the Coalition's focus is once again on turning back boats and the promotion of Temporary Protection Visas for asylum seekers.
"Each of these policies is necessary, to protect our borders and deny people smugglers a product to sell," the Liberal Party writes on its campaign website.
"Stopping the boats has enabled the Government to close 19 detention centres and remove all children from detention.
"The Government is now spending a billion dollars less, every year, on onshore detention arrangements than when we came into office.
"Getting control of our borders means that we aren’t releasing illegal arrivals into the community without proper checks. Labor released more than 500 individuals who had, or went on to have, criminal convictions for violent, sexual and drug crimes."
In 2018, The New York Times published an interview with Prime Minister Scott Morrison with an image of a trophy in his office of a boat which had "I stopped these" printed on it.
Operation Sovereign Borders
Operation Sovereign Borders is a military-led response to combating boat arrivals in Australia that the Coalition introduced following the September 2013 federal election.
As part of the operation, Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs), first introduced in 1999 under the Howard government and then removed in 2008 under the Rudd government, were reintroduced for asylum seekers in Australia awaiting determination of their refugee status.
TPVs give asylum seekers work and study rights, and access to Centrelink.
The Liberal Party says on its campaign website the use of TPVs "deny people smugglers a product to sell."
In April, the CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia, Paul Power, told SBS News some 18,000 temporary visa holders in Australia had been left “permanently in limbo” because of the visa conditions.
“Behind the government’s temporary protection visa policy are many human and family tragedies of people who have been separated from their spouses and children," he said.
Mr Power said there was “no evidence” that the policy acted as a deterrent to preventing people from seeking asylum in Australia through avenues considered illegal by the government.
He also said asylum seekers were required to reapply to renew their visas subjecting them to a complex process to have their refugee status reconfirmed.
“They are all living under a cloud, concerned that when their temporary protection visa runs out they may actually have their application for further protection rejected,” he said.
Migrant cap
Mr Morrison has said he isn't yet willing to increase the migrant cap, despite calls from business groups to allow skilled migrants to come to the country to make up for lost years during the pandemic.
He told an Australian Financial Review Business Summit in March that the cap might be reassessed once the current limit of 160,000 is reached.
“It will take time, just like it will in the tourism market, just like it will in the student market for these in-flows of people to build up again,” he said.
“I don’t see us threatening the caps that have been in place, certainly not in the year that comes, and we’ll monitor that very closely.”
Labor: More permanent settlement
The Opposition has not released any hard and fast policies on migration but has signalled the system needs an overhaul.
Labor's spokeswoman for home affairs, Kristina Keneally, late last year delivered a speech to the Migration Institute, where she .
Quoting former prime minister John Howard, Senator Keneally said: “You either invite someone to come here permanently, or you don’t invite them at all."
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has since signalled Labor may consider granting foreign workers permanent residency if it forms government.
Thousands of workers come to Australia each year on temporary work visas.
"If you have people who are coming here temporarily, year after year, spending month after month here, why don't we give them a bit of certainty and actually allow people to stay who are making a contribution to the country?" Mr Albanese told the National Farmers Federation conference in April.
In his budget reply speech this year, Mr Albanese pledged .
Labor wants these positions filled by locals but has conceded overseas will be required to meet this promise as a "stopgap" measure.
"In the short term we must recruit more overseas doctors and nurses. But this is a stopgap measure," Mr Albanese wrote in a April op-ed published in The Australian newspaper.
In following the inking of the China-Solomon Islands security pact, Labor also says it would reform the Pacific mobility scheme and create a new engagement visa to encourage more migration.
Asylum seeker policy
The Opposition backs Operation Sovereign Borders, which means it supports third-country resettlement of asylum seekers and boat turnbacks "where safe to do so".
Labor says they are redundant because no asylum seeker who has arrived by boat since 2013 has been issued one and they won't be issued to those arriving by boat in the future.
But some refugees who arrived by boat before July 2013 do hold them. Labor says given they are already living in the community and paying taxes, they should instead be transitioned onto permanent visa options.
Additional reporting by AAP.
