The Coalition has promised to drastically cut net overseas migration and housing construction code. The shadow housing minister, Andrew Bragg, will be up at the national press club and says the opposition will strip the 2000-page national construction code, which he says makes it "illegal to build a cheap safe house", down to an 80-page "basic Australian standard". The current permanent migration level is set to 185,000 while the net overseas migration figure has been trending downwards from post-covid peaks and is anticipated to be 245,000 for 2026–27. Net overseas migration is the total number of people coming into the country against those going out – which means it can be tricky to have total control over. Bragg will tell the press club that the government has sat over a shortfall of 130,000 dwellings which can be closed if the NOM drops under 180,000 over four years. A NOM reduction on this scale is manageable and in line with reductions we have managed in recent history – for example in 2009-2010 when the NOM declined from 300,000 to 175,000 in around 18 months. This will be achieved through a higher share of skilled migrant workers linked to jobs that meet Australian industry needs. This includes more reductions in other streams like family, international students and other temporary migrants. The Coalition also promises to abolish group voting tickets in Victoria, which have been criticised by experts for allowing backroom deals between parties to flourish. The electoral amendment bill 2026, which passed the upper house 33 votes to 4, will replace GVTs with a new above-the-line voting system that requires voters to number at least five groups in order of preference. The MPs who did not support the bill were: Shooters Fishers and Farmers MP Jeff Bourman, Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell, Legalise Cannabis MP Rachel Payne and Libertarian David Limbrick. These minor-party MPs will be most affected by the change and face the prospect of losing their seats at the November election as a result. The Coalition's promises come as the Commonwealth Bank has recorded a bumper $10.9bn full-year cash profit, up 7%, after recording strong growth in home and business lending, despite recent weakness in the housing market. The bank declared a final dividend of $2.70, representing a 10c increase on the last half-year dividend. However, there are signs of distress among some of the bank customers, with arrears among personal loan customers surging. Arrears for home loans and credit cards have also ticked higher in recent months, although they remain at modest levels. The Coalition's policies have been met with criticism from the government, with the shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, stating that the 180,000 net overseas migration target is not set in stone. Wilson says there are "risks on all sides" in whether you make energy efficiency standards compulsory or not, and that different parts of the country have different climates so there shouldn't be a "one size fits all approach". The government is also facing heat over a cooling housing market across Australia, which the treasurer says is due to a range of factors, not just the changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax announced in the May budget. The education minister, Jason Clare, says a funding deal with Victoria to get public schools funded to Gonski levels over the next decade is "very close". While the commonwealth was able to negotiate with every other state and territory to get a deal to increase funding to 100% of the school resource standard, Victoria currently only pays 70% and the federal government 20%. Under the better and fairer schools agreement, the commonwealth will lift its share to 75% over the decade if Victoria also lifts its funding by the last 5%. The government is also under pressure to apologise over the "melon-gate" leak of a diplomatic note sent by Japan to the Australian federal police. The opposition has batted off questions that its request for the Australian federal police to investigate the leak is political. The shadow defence minister, James Paterson, says if the prime minister had just quickly apologised, "everyone would have quickly moved on from this story". However, the prime minister has stubbornly refused to admit that he got it wrong, and now he's trying to cover his tracks. Paterson says there are plenty of examples of Labor referring leaks to the AFP – including the text messages sent between French president Emmanuel Macron and former prime minister Scott Morrison. In other news, the housing minister, Clare O'Neil, says the opposition has "lost the plot" by referring the leak to the Australian federal police. She believes the Australian federal police should be allowed to focus on their job, which is keeping Australians safe and fighting crime for Australians. The opposition is also promising to strip back the housing construction code to help builders build quicker, but the shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, says the 180,000 net overseas migration target is not set in stone. Overall, the Coalition's promises and policies have sparked debate and criticism from various political figures and experts, highlighting the complex nature of Australia's immigration, housing, and energy efficiency issues.
