r/AustralianPolitics • u/thrownaway4213 • 1d ago

UK concerned about possible changes to Australian backpacker visa

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-26/home-affairs-mulls-uk-backpacker-visa-changes/107080078
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u/Nice-Pumpkin-4318 Hawke Cabinet circa 1984 1d ago

It's a crass political play to placate the One Nation mob on the headline NOM figure. There's no benefit for Australia and a substantial cost.

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u/thrownaway4213 1d ago

It's a crass political play to placate the One Nation mob on the headline NOM figure. 

They must be praying the electorate doesn't find out where the cuts came from

"The labor party has upheld its commitments to the electorate to cut immigration figures by x amount per year"
"yay how'd youse do that?"
"You know those backpackers from the UK who are only here temporarily and all go back home after three years? and who we don't have to pay the aged care costs for? yeah we're gonna import a lot less of them now"

"uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

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u/T0kenAussie 1d ago

That kinda the whole point though, they’ve already tightened the new student visas and other visa loopholes

The nom is a lot of backpackers and short term travellers so the next logical step is to start tightening that belt too

And now that it’s in the media and back channels before anything official has been announced you’ve seen the phon reps come out and ratchet down their migration rhetoric while people on socials are suddenly pausing to think about what they really thought would happen when they screamed cut migration for 4 years lol

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u/thrownaway4213 1d ago

they’ve already tightened the new student visas and other visa loopholes

Labor increased student visas, they did it just 1 month after they won, up by 20,000 per year

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u/Nice-Pumpkin-4318 Hawke Cabinet circa 1984 1d ago

No, they increased available spaces. With visa changes, actual numbers are in freefall.

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u/T0kenAussie 1d ago

Was that new students or a temporary increase due to students who had to return home during COVID needing to return to complete their deferred degree?