SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, trailing in opinion polls ahead of a May 18 election, on Sunday campaigned on the hot-button issue of immigration, promising to cut annual migrant numbers and freeze the country's refugee intake. The Australian Bureau of Statistics says net overseas migration in the year to September 2018 was 240,100. The prime minister said if his government was re-elected it would cap annual migrant numbers at 160,000 people per year for the next four years. Morrison also said the annual refugee intake would be frozen at 18,750 people. The Labour opposition intends to increase the refugee intake to 27,000 by 2025.

Source: The Star April 28, 2019 05:26 UTC