The federal opposition has demanded Labor “be transparent” about how it comes up with Australia’s immigration numbers.

Australia’s net overseas migration numbers have soared since the end of the Covid pandemic, with Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing the number of net permanent and long-term arrivals coming in at 379,870 between January and August this year.

However during a Press Club address on Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke declined to say what an “appropriate” level of net overseas migration would be, declaring “I don’t think there is a magic number”.

The comments led shadow home affairs minister Jonathan Duniam to take aim at the minister during a Sunday Agenda interview, stating Mr Burke was effectively telling Australians they don’t need to know about the de

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