Taylor hands the immigration dial to a building industry that can't hit its own targets

Guardian Australia · Tom McIlroy Political editor · Wednesday 13 May 2026

Taylor hands the immigration dial to a building industry that can't hit its own targets

The Coalition will tie temporary migration to housing completions, plus a $5bn infrastructure fund and a watered-down construction code.

Taylor's plan: cap migration at whatever the building industry manages to nail together. The same building industry that hasn't hit a target since Menzies wore short pants. It's policy by hostage — we'll let the carpenters set the immigration rate, and when they down tools for a long weekend, the queue at Tullamarine backs up to Singapore.

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