The Coalition's migration plan, which targets a net migration figure of 100,000 per year, has come under scrutiny from former bureaucrat Abul Rizvi, who cast doubt on the achievability of the target. Taylor spent Thursday defending the rigour of the policy and pledged to release official costings before the next election.
Labor has rejected claims from deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume that the government has brought in "more executives than carpenters," citing data showing that four times as many carpenters have arrived in the past four years.
Abbott echoed One Nation's Barnaby Joyce in saying the terror attack on December 14 last year lit the fuse for the current debate on migration. The Bondi massacre has become a recurring reference point in political arguments over immigration policy.
A top labour economist told The Age that cutting the growing number of temporary migrants could help turn around Australia's productivity malaise by encouraging firms to innovate instead of relying on cheap labour. The observation provides some economic backing for the Coalition's position, though questions remain about the broader impact of such a sharp reduction.