While it was shutting down asylum by boat, the Howard government was opening up temporary migration.
The temporary skilled 457 visa was introduced in 1996 and grew rapidly.
This changed the fabric of the migration system. The permanent migration program remained capped and carefully controlled by government, but much temporary migration became “demand-driven” rather than subject to an overall cap.
Universities recruited temporary students. Employers sponsored temporary workers. Farmers became dependent on temporary backpackers. Migrants moved between temporary visas. The size of the temporary system came to depend heavily on those separate decisions rather than on one overall government limit.
Harsh asylum policy did not prove migration as a whole was becoming more tightly controlled. It showed toughness in one small, but highly visible, part of the system while creating political room to loosen migration policy elsewhere.