South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has hit back at growing calls to slash migration to Australia, warning that cutting intake levels would make the country's problems worse rather than better. Speaking at the Sydney Institute, the Labor leader argued that skilled migrants are strong net contributors to public finances and urged fellow politicians to resist the "race to the bottom" on migration numbers being driven by Pauline Hanson's One Nation, which has gained ground in the polls since the 2025 federal election.

Malinauskas cited figures suggesting a primary skilled migrant delivers a net benefit of about $415,000 to government coffers over their lifetime in Australia, compared with an average cost of $85,000 for a native-born Australian, and said migrants filling trade and care roles were key to easing housing and aged-care shortages. His comments come as national debate intensifies, with One Nation pushing to cut the migration intake to 130,000 a year and the Coalition, led by Angus Taylor, arguing current levels of roughly 550,000 outstrip housing supply of under 200,000 homes annually. Net overseas migration fell to 301,000 in 2025, down 45% from its post-Covid peak, though Malinauskas insisted Australia's real problem is a housing crisis, not a migration crisis, and called for skills policy to focus on construction workers.