CANBERRA, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morison on Sunday proposed a major overhaul of the nation's immigration program.
Speaking at an election campaign event in Sydney on Sunday, Morrison promised that the governing Liberal-National Party coalition (LNP) will cap the number of migrants allowed into Australia each year for humanitarian reasons at 18,750 if elected for a third term in government on May 18.
It comes after Morrison in March announced that the number of permanent migrants allowed into the country will be capped at 160,000 per year, down from 190,000.
Morrison made the announcement alongside John Howard -- the second-longest serving PM in the Australian history at his first official appearance on the campaign trail.
"We've got our borders and the Budget under control," Morrison told a crowd of supporters, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
"We make decisions about who comes here based on what's in Australia's interests."
The Opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) has pledged to increase the number of humanitarian visas available every year to 32,000 -- a plan that Morrison claims will cost the budget an extra 6.2 billion Australian dollars.
Morrison on Sunday challenged ALP leader Bill Shorten to say exactly who he would allow into Australia under his immigration plan.
"We've been upfront with Australia, we're reducing the cap on our migration intake and capping the numbers of people we let in under our humanitarian program that's one of the most generous in the world," the PM said.
"We're telling people where we'll be taking migrants from, who they will be, the skills we want them to have and working with regions to settle people in towns that want and need more workers, skills and students." Enditem
