Emotional dad calls out immigration after $9,360 ask forces family out of Sydney: ‘More money than I can get’
An Australian dad struggling to keep up with the rising cost of rent has pleaded with the government to do something about the housing crisis. Morgan has just been hit with a $180 per week increase in his rent, which works out to be $9,360 per year.
His increasing weekly rent has even forced him to move out of Sydney for a cheaper life, but that still hasn't given much reprieve. He wants something done now to ensure he and his family don't end up on the street.
"I tried to find a cheaper place and there just aren't any with what little is available," he said on the ABC's QandA programme.
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"There's dozens of people lined up. Lots of them are immigrants, and they have plenty more money than I can possibly get.
"One more rent increase and my family, my one-year-old baby, we're facing homelessness, and we've got nowhere to go.
"Is the government going to cut immigration to match housing availability, or are we just going to keep going until every regular working Australian is homeless?"
Morgan said he's already working two jobs to make ends meet, but it's still difficult to find any financial breathing room.
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Migration levels are plummeting
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler was the first to respond to the dad's desperate plea and said the solution to his problem was simple, but hard at the same time.
"We do want to see those migration numbers get back to something like normal for Australia," he said.
"We also know that migration has been an important part of keeping our economy going... we also have a very tight labour market with lots of skill shortages.
"So it is a fine balance [that] governments of all political persuasions always have to try to strike.
"But we need more houses... like we just need to get building more houses."
There was a record overseas migration intake in 2022-23, with 528,000 people coming into Australia, according to Treasury figures.
But Treasury forecast that number to plummet to 260,000 for the 2024-25 year, and hover around the 235,000 per annum mark after that.
The government announced last year that the permanent migration program would be capped at 185,000 places in 2024-25 and that $18.3 million would be invested to reform the country's immigration system to “drive greater economic prosperity and restore its integrity”.
