Election-hit-and-run and school-shooting fallout dominate as Hanson warns of migrant surge

Debate about migration was prominent in Australian politics as One Nation leader Pauline Hanson claimed the Labor government was concealing plans for a major increase in arrivals. The available official forecasts do not describe a million-person annual intake: the 2026–27 Budget projected net overseas migration of 295,000 in 2025–26, 245,000 in 2026–27 and 225,000 in each of the following three years. The government’s permanent migration programme for 2026–27 was set at 185,000 places. Hanson’s criticism formed part of her party’s wider call for lower migration, while the figures require care because net overseas migration measures population change from arrivals minus departures, rather than visa grants alone.

The political argument unfolded alongside separate serious news developments. In Western Australia, former Nationals candidate Benjamin Simpkins was before the courts on allegations connected to a fatal Katanning hit-and-run; those allegations had not been determined. Internationally, a school shooting in Thailand’s Nonthaburi province killed at least six people, including pupils and teachers, according to authorities cited by SBS. These cases were distinct from the migration dispute, but heightened the broader news focus on public safety, political accountability and the consequences of violence.