'Importing future voters': Economist Leith van Onselen links high levels of immigration to boost in support for Labor Party
Economist Leith van Onselen has sparked debate by asserting that Mr Albanese will be incentivised to maintain high levels of immigration due to migrant preferences for Labor.
Polling by Redbridge and Accent Research during the election campaign found Labor's two-party preferred vote was in the high 60s among "diverse voters".
"The Indian community is now our largest immigration source… it seems that that community votes overwhelmingly for Labor,' Mr van Onselen told 2GB on Thursday.
'Labor is incentivised to maintain a high immigration policy because it's effectively importing future voters.'
According to a Carnegie India survey during the last federal election, 58 per cent of Indian-Australian respondents said they felt closer to the Labor Party than the Coalition.
The countries with the most permanent migration to Australia include India, China, Philippines, Nepal and the United Kingdom.
The 2025 Federal Election saw Labor retain key seats in Western Sydney, areas with substantial migrant populations.
In the lead-up to the election, Immigration Minister Tony Burke faced accusations of using citizenship ceremonies as photo opportunities to promote the Labor Party.
Home Affairs Department Secretary Stephanie Foster revealed Mr Burke personally instructed staff to schedule the ceremonies to fit his availability.
Independent MP Dai Le, representing the seat of Fowler, claimed she was excluded from an event and accused Mr Burke of using immigrants as 'political pawns'.
Mr van Onselen pointed out that while immigrants typically vote for Labor, much of the recent immigration occurred under previous Coalition governments.
'They effectively imported a whole bunch of people who were then more likely to vote for Labor... They probably did it inadvertently,' he said.
Redbridge Group Director Kos Samaras also said that the timeline for migrants to gain citizenship and voting rights suggests that earlier Coalition policies have had a significant impact.
'What these conservatives need to appreciate is according to their theory, it was the Coalition government's migration program, from 2013 to 2019 that helped Labor,' he said.
The Albanese government has confirmed its plans to reduce net overseas migration "down quite considerably" in the coming years.
Net overseas migration was 446,000 in 2023-24, down from 536,000 in 2022-2023 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The government's budget papers have forecast a return to 260,000 in the coming financial year and down to 225,000 the year after.
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