Two in three Australian voters want an immigration pause until there is enough housing, and majorities only want migrants with in-need skills and from similar countries, a new poll shows.
According to the Resolve Political Monitor survey, conducted for The Sydney Morning Herald between December 2 and 7 and released on Sunday, 53% think the current immigration level is too high, 33% believe it’s about right, 10% are undecided, and 4% think it’s too low.
Asked about four potential immigration policies, 64% of respondents supported “pausing any immigration until our housing situation has caught up” with just 13% opposed, while 61% were in favour of “restricting permanent migration only to those people with skills we need” and 17% were against such a move.
Another 54% supported “focusing immigration intakes on alike countries, e.g. those where English is commonly spoken or that have similar laws and customs” with 16% opposed, and 48% supported restricting permanent migration only to people of working age, while 20% were not in favour.
The poll also asked voters why they thought immigration levels were too high, with 81% saying “there are not enough houses and it pushes prices up”, 73% saying “it puts pressure on health and education services”, and 68% saying “it can result result in crime, anti-social behaviour and lack of cohesion”.
“There are more people competing for jobs” was selected by 67%, 52% cited “a loss of Australian culture and identity”, and 51% said “our transport infrastructure cannot cope”. Respondents were able to select all answers that applied.
64% of Aussies telling the Sydney Morning Herald’s pollster that they support an immigration pause.
The courage of @BecFreedom and all the @marchforaus organisers and attendees are liberating us to say what we think.
See you on 26 January.#5YearPause https://t.co/MjZDAZL4p1
— John Ruddick MLC (@JohnRuddick2) December 7, 2025
NSW Libertarian MP John Ruddick, who called for a five-year immigration pause in a speech at Sydney’s March for Australia rally on August 31, said the results vindicated the protest movement.
“The courage of Bec Freedom and all the March for Australia organisers and attendees are liberating us to say what we think. See you on 26 January,” he wrote on X.
The same poll had Labor leading the Coalition 55 to 44 on a two-party-preferred basis, and winning 35% of the primary vote, up two points since last month.
The Coalition’s primary vote fell three points to 26%, One Nation’s rose 2% to 14% – the lowest and highest results for each respective party in the poll’s history – while the Greens’ primary vote went up one point to 11%.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leads Sussan Ley as preferred PM 41% to 26%, and Mr Albanese’s approval rating got a boost with 48% of voters now rating his performance as good or very good.
The poll comes as Ms Ley prepares to release her immigration policy amid Liberal party infighting on the issue and One Nation’s ongoing surge in the polls.
Australia took more immigrants in the first nine months of 2025 than during any other year on record, according to the latest ABS figures, and net overseas migration since Labor took office in May 2022 is approaching 1.5 million.
Header image: Left, an auction in Adelaide in October (Hardeep Singh – TikTok). Right, an auction in Queensland in August (Place Sunnybank).
The post Two in three Aussies want total immigration halt until housing catches up first appeared on The Noticer.
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