Trade Minister Don Farrell has swatted away rumours that Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Treasurer Jim Chalmers are “having a blue” over immigration policy details.
In August, Mr Burke postponed his National Press Club address after disagreement in Cabinet over policy settings.
He was set to deliver a major speech on immigration, with sources telling News24.com.au that the Albanese government would not cut its migration levels, sticking with its target of 225,000 people a year.
The 2026 federal budget revealed an extra 20,000 people would arrive in 2026-27 while net overseas migration is expected to moderate at 225,000 from 2027 to 2030.
Instead of reducing the migration figure, Mr Burke’s focus will be on ensuring migration is matched to the capacity to provide housing, infrastructure and essential services.
Speaking to News24 Sunday Agenda, Mr Farrell said the Albanese government was being “very cooperative” on immigration policy, with the Prime Minister consulting widely in the caucus.
Asked whether Mr Chalmers and Mr Burke were “having a blue” over the policy, Mr Farrell flatly rejected the claim.
“Well, my answer to that would be absolutely no. Jim and Tony work very closely together,” he said on Sunday.
“Migration is important in terms of the economy of this country, so it wouldn’t be unusual for the Treasurer to have views about what we should be doing in terms of migration.”
Mr Farrell said the Cabinet works “really well collaboratively” and that would continue moving forward.
“I see no evidence that the government is divided on any of these issues,” he said.
Mr Farrrell praised Anthony Albanese for being a Prime Minister who was “very consultative”.
“He doesn’t sort of make decisions on the run,” he said.
“He makes sure that he respects both his Cabinet colleagues and … more importantly, he consults broadly with the caucus.
“I’ve been in a couple of governments to see just how good the Prime Minister is in terms of ensuring that he consults with his colleagues.”
However, The Saturday Paper revealed Labor insiders had claimed Mr Burke was blaming Mr Chalmers for an impasse on the policy to lower immigration.
“It’s become this story that Jim shot it down because of the economic implications, but don’t forget that what Burke is trying to do is hit the numbers that are already in the budget, so there aren’t any extra economic implications there,” a Labor insider told the paper last week.
“And if the policy is about hitting non-forecasts in the budget, then why would people think that there are additional economic consequences for that?”
Last month, NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister told News24.com.au that the government had “more work to do” to reset the skilled migration process.
“It’s really important that Australians have confidence that the that the migration system is working in Australia’s interests,” she said.
Ms McAllister said she could not discuss whether there was a split in Labor on the issue because she was not in the cabinet.
“Look, I’m not in the cabinet, and you’ll also understand that even if I were, I wouldn’t be talking about this,” she said.