Reflecting sensitivity around the leak, particularly among Hastie’s backers, Price said she had written to Ley demanding an end to the leaks. Price previously raised concerns about one of Ley’s key factional backers, frontbencher Alex Hawke, who Price claimed had berated one of her staffers in the week of her being demoted from the frontbench.
“The leaking of a verbal submission to, quite frankly, lazy journalists is ridiculous,” Price, who Ley dismissed from the frontbench last month, said on 2GB.
Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I’ve written to our leader about my concerns about backgrounding and about leaking to the media. It’s got to stop. There’s been commentary on the fact that we look like a clown show.”
Scarr was a critical player in Hastie’s resignation as opposition home affairs spokesman. In his resignation statement, Hastie claimed that Ley had handed Scarr full responsibility for immigration policy.
As the senior portfolio holder, Hastie had grounds to believe he should be in charge. But some of Hastie’s closest allies said privately that he knew he retained control of immigration policy, but saw the letter as a convenient excuse to quit Ley’s team.
Scarr is viewed as too left-wing on immigration issues by some on the right of the Coalition. In the same shadow ministerial meeting at which Ley spoke, Scarr delivered an impassioned defence of his positions and arguments that the party needed to reconnect with migrant communities, irking some colleagues.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley on Tuesday.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
In comments to this masthead, Scarr emphasised that the net overseas migration figure cited by Hastie and others was 100,000 above the pre-COVID average and nowhere near enough houses were being built to accommodate new arrivals.
While the party’s position was to cut net overseas migration (NOM), Scarr said the conversation “must be based on facts and evidence” and consider a series of economic trade-offs.
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Factors responsible for the level of net overseas migration “barely get a mention in the debate”, he said. They included a 26 per cent rise in New Zealanders coming to Australia due to the weak jobs market in that country; a 22 per cent rise in working holidaymakers required by the tourism and farming sector; other agreements with countries allowing working holidaymakers to stay in the country; and a massive surge in onshore protection claims by potentially fake asylum seekers.
“The policy needs detail. You cannot get away from doing the hard work,” Scarr said.
At the election, the Coalition pledged to cut migration without specifying areas that would be reduced.
“When making proposals, you need to provide a breakdown for NOM figures and the Permanent Migration Intake. You need to be clear on proposed policy settings and linking them to how you are going to achieve outcomes. If you do not do that, you have no credibility,” Scarr said.
“In developing the policy, there must be close co-operation with all portfolios and the party room. This is key. Immigration matters are dealt with in a range of different portfolios. There are budget impacts. There are international agreements. Our agricultural sector and aged care sector need workers. There are skills shortages that have endured for years. The regions are still crying out for skilled workers.”
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