Migration rose by one-third last year to lift Australia’s population by a record 659,000

Australia welcomed more than 2,000 migrants a day in the year to September, helping to swell the country’s population by a record 659,800, reigniting political debate about measures to reduce arrivals.

Migration arrivals rose by a third compared with the previous year to hit 765,900, driven by international students and workers on temporary visas, while departures slipped to 217,100.

The record net annual increase of almost 550,000 comes despite the Albanese government’s expectation to bring migration down from 510,000 to 375,000 a year by June 2024, which was laid out in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook.

The anti-racism activist group Democracy in Colour denounced the comments, with campaigner Jarrod Tan saying it is “irresponsible” to play the “migrant blame game for a housing crisis that is decades in the making”.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, told parliament in question time that the data “doesn’t take into account … the quite substantial action” the government has taken to put “downward pressure” on net overseas migration.

The employment minister, Tony Burke, deflected attacks by noting that opposition leader, Peter Dutton, had previously publicly advocated “for higher rates of immigration”, including after the September 2022 jobs and skills summit.