Evidence at a parliamentary inquiry on Friday has revealed the Albanese Government has not undertaken any modelling to measure the impact of its massive increases to migration numbers on housing and infrastructure.
At the Joint Standing Committee on Migration hearing on Friday 13 March, officials from across government were forced to concede that there were significant gaps in planning and coordination across the Government's migration settings, raising serious concerns about whether the Government understands the real-world consequences of its migration programme.
The Department of Home Affairs admitted that it has never modelled the impact of the Albanese Government's migration numbers on housing and infrastructure.
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts revealed it does not have a remit with respect to planning for migration levels, despite the clear impact population growth has on housing demand, infrastructure, and essential services.
Infrastructure Australia, Albanese's flagship infrastructure body, called the population growth experienced, "mega-population growth".
Infrastructure Australia confirmed it relies on Treasury modelling on population forecasts, which in some years have blown out by hundreds of thousands of migrants. The Labor Government has consistently delivered migration levels considerably above its targets.
Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, Leon Rebello MP, said the evidence confirmed Australians' growing concerns about the lack of planning from the Albanese Government.
"It is clear that there is no planning whatsoever about the impacts of migration on housing from the Albanese Government, and Australians have had to wear a range of consequences from this reckless approach," Mr Rebello said.
"The Government is just letting migration rip while Australians feel increasingly squeezed out of the dream of home ownership. This is while our highways and hospitals also fail to keep up with this pent-up demand on our communities.
"The Albanese Government isn't planning for what the economy needs. It is simply hoping that our essential services will keep up."
Department of Infrastructure officials also revealed a troubling disconnect between government priorities and the pressures facing Australian communities. Bizarrely, its evidence suggested it was more focused on art galleries than the housing, hospitals, schools and roads required to support rapid population growth.
Senator Leah Blyth said the evidence highlighted the poor alignment between the Government's infrastructure planning and these practical realities.
"The Albanese Government seems more focused on building art galleries in communities than houses for people in which to live - or essential services like hospitals, schools, roads and water supply," Senator Blyth said.
"It shows just how misdirected the Albanese Government's priorities are."
Further evidence from Jobs and Skills Australia also raised alarm bells after officials confirmed they are not undertaking any work on skills underutilisation, meaning no one is monitoring whether migrants' skills are actually being used in the workforce.
Cameron Caldwell MP said the admission exposed a major flaw in the Government's migration approach.
"Labor has let in 1.2 million people over three years. They flung open the doors to migrants but have failed to match what the economy needs with who we are bringing in," Mr Caldwell said.
"The evidence highlights the urgent need for a properly planned migration program that aligns population growth with housing supply, infrastructure capacity and the skills Australia actually needs."
Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, Senator Jonno Duniam, said the evidence confirmed what Australians are already experiencing in their daily lives - a migration program that is completely disconnected from planning for housing, infrastructure and services.
"Australians are seeing the consequences every day of Labor's migration spikes - skyrocketing rental prices, housing shortages and infrastructure that simply cannot keep up," Senator Duniam said.
