Across every single demographic or type of voter – including people in marginal seats, undecided voters, those aligned with a crossbench or major party, the employed and the unemployed – fewer than 10 per cent of voters said permanent migration was too low.
Two in five Labor voters, 39 per cent, said permanent migration was too high, while 36 per cent said it was “about right” and 4 per cent said it was too low, with 21 per cent undecided.
A substantial majority of Coalition voters, 63 per cent, said permanent migration was too high, while Greens voters were the only group to say that immigration levels were “about right”, with 41 per cent favouring the current target, 33 per cent saying it was too high and 8 per cent cent saying it was too low.
The findings are a stark reminder of how sensitive the issue of immigration has become, with even Labor voters marking the government poorly for its handling of migration.
Just 31 per cent of Labor voters believe the government is handling migration in a carefully planned and managed way, 41 per cent believing it is being handled in an unplanned and unmanaged way, and 28 per cent undecided.
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Sixty-seven per cent of Coalition voters said migration was being handled in an unplanned way, as did 37 per cent of Greens voters and 68 per cent of “other” voters, who include supporters of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.
The same poll found that support for Hanson and her party had surged to 12 per cent from 9 per cent, the party’s highest result since the Resolve poll began in April 2021.
Resolve pollster Jim Reed said “the immigration debate is undoubtedly responsible for boosting One Nation’s vote. If you’re unhappy with the major parties on the environment, you go to the Greens, and if you’re unhappy about immigration you go to Pauline.”
In a positive sign for the government, concerns about immigration were well down the list of concerns ranked by voters.
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When asked to identify the one single issue they were most concerned about, 40 per cent nominated keeping the cost of living low. This was followed by health and aged care (8 per cent) and jobs and wages (7 per cent).
Just 4 per cent of people said “immigration and refugees” was their main policy priority, down from 5 per cent last month.
