The Coalition, through the Murdoch press, is “blasting” the Labor Government on its management of asylum claims.
This is setting a new level for political hypocrisy and an inability to read basic data on a website.
Yes, there is a major policy challenge associated with managing the asylum system. But publishing incorrect claims, hiding the origins of the problem and totally avoiding any attempt to offer solutions won’t help at all.
First, let’s correct the inaccurate statements.
The claim that ‘the backlog of asylum claims is at a record high, with 31,160 refugee status determinations still pending at the end of September’ is factually incorrect and could have been easily checked as the data is there in the same place on the Department of Home Affairs website.
The actual backlog record was set in February 2020 at 39,484.
Yes, asylum applications have been greater than 2,000 per month since March 2024 as claimed by the Murdoch press. However, the monthly and annual record of asylum applications was set in 2017-18 when Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was Home Affairs Minister (and the Murdoch press did not even notice).
The monthly record was set at just over 2,700 applications and the annual record was set at 27,931. That was when we experienced the biggest labour trafficking scam in Australia’s history when 67 per cent of applications were just from Malaysian and Chinese nationals (see Chart 1).
The Labor Government was slow to start dealing with the situation it inherited and the $160 million strategy it has implemented will be inadequate. But that is better than no strategy at all, which is what Dutton had in place.
The Labor Government’s strategy has seen a substantial increase in the processing of asylum claims at both the primary level and at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). For example, under the Coalition Government in 2021-22 (its last year in office with international borders mostly closed) only 13,964 primary applications were processed (an average of 1,163 per month). By comparison in 2023-24, there were 19,700 primary applications processed (an average of 1,641 per month).
In the first three months of 2024-25, there have been 7,536 primary decisions, an average of 2,512 per month. That is why the primary backlog, rather than being at record levels as claimed in the Murdoch press, is actually falling
At the AAT, the backlog appears to have stabilised after growing steadily from 5,434 at end June 2016 to currently around 41,260. That is due to additional funds for the AAT that have enabled it to increase its asylum processing rate from 5,819 in 2021-22 (an average of 485 per month) to around 1,500 per month in the last five months.
Management of the asylum challenge Australia faces is substantial, but just making inaccurate claims helps nothing. It would be better if the Coalition proposed some solutions and the Murdoch press asked them and the Labor Government to explain those solutions.
The Murdoch press should also ensure that Australians are made aware that Peter Dutton’s abysmal record on immigration integrity has no comparison in Australian history and is unlikely ever to be exceeded.
Dr Abul Rizvi is an Independent Australia columnist and a former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration. You can follow Abul on Twitter @RizviAbul.
Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.
Related Articles
- Booming partner visa backlog will reduce migration opportunities for students
- Skilled temporary entrant stocks rising with no place to go
- Labor's asylum strategy struggling to rectify Coalition backlog
- Implications of student visa boom from Philippines
- Why offshore student visa grants in 2025 must rise to hit student caps