{"id":52602,"date":"2026-07-17T09:33:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/52602\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T09:33:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:33:47","slug":"labor-accused-of-rushing-through-citizenship-backlog-to-boost-the-number-of-new-voters-ahead-of-the-next-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/52602\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor accused of rushing through citizenship backlog to boost the number of new voters ahead of the next election"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Albanese government has been accused of trying to fast-track a growing citizenship backlog to increase the number of new voters before Australians head to the polls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The claims come as councils report growing pressure from the Department of Home Affairs to increase the number of ceremonies, despite waiting lists already stretched.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council waiting lists have continued to grow alongside record migration, with almost 250,000 net permanent and long-term arrivals recorded between January and May this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Independent NSW Upper House MP Rod Roberts said governments had historically increased the pace of citizenship ceremonies in the lead-up to elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are trying to mint new voters,\u201d Mr Roberts\u00a0told the Daily Telegraph.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come into the country, get their citizenship, receive their benefits and feel obliged to repay the government in some way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said an estimated backlog of around 300,000 prospective citizens\u00a0represented\u00a0a significant voting bloc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly makes you wonder why the government is pushing so hard to get these new citizens in so quickly,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun said the Department of Home Affairs had contacted the council within the past fortnight requesting more ceremonies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Mannoun said councils were already managing substantial waiting lists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He argued criticism from opposition parties over the increase in citizenship ceremonies could\u00a0ultimately benefit\u00a0Labor politically.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf opposition parties were complaining about the number of new citizens being inducted that would certainly push these people to vote Labor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former Cumberland mayor and current councillor Steve Christou said the scale of ceremonies had expanded considerably.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was mayor from 2019 to December 2021, council held one citizenship session a month,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncil now holds two to three sessions per citizenship ceremony. This is a significant increase.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Department of Home Affairs\u00a0spokeswoman\u00a0told the Daily Telegraph that\u00a0the government was working to reduce delays for approved applicants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She confirmed the department regularly liaised with councils about ceremony capacity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department actively engages with councils on the number of approved applicants waiting for a ceremony,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said monthly reports were shared with councils covering current waiting lists and expected future approvals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Australia\u2019s<\/p>\n

The latest concerns come months after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke faced criticism over the scheduling of large citizenship ceremonies<\/a> before the federal election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In February, Home Affairs Department Secretary Stephanie Foster revealed Mr Burke had asked officials to organise ceremonies around his availability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe asked us to schedule \u2026 ceremonies, and obviously gave us a window of availability,\u201d Ms Foster said\u00a0at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those events, held at Sydney Olympic Park, saw about 4,500 people become Australian citizens just weeks before voters went to the polls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ceremonies drew political criticism because many of the new citizens lived in key western Sydney electorates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Independent Fowler MP Dai Le accused Mr Burke of turning the occasions into campaign events and claimed she was excluded despite\u00a0representing\u00a0many of the new citizens attending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Burke rejected the criticism at the time and defended efforts to reduce waiting times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve often said that if I had my way we\u2019d have citizenship ceremonies every day,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This comes after an Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures<\/a> found net permanent and long-term arrivals reached 483,410 in the 12 months to May, the highest figure for the 12 months to May ever recorded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Australia welcomed 25,580 net permanent and long-term arrivals in\u00a0the month of May, which meant net permanent and long-term arrivals totalled 248,780 between January and May.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This was the strongest start to a calendar year since records began.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The figures come less than a month after separate\u00a0ABS population data showed net overseas migration added 300,960 people to Australia’s population in the year to December.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Albanese government has been accused of trying to fast-track a growing citizenship backlog to increase the 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