A far-left Australian YouTuber has been mercilessly mocked after claiming Labor has been tougher on migration than any other government in decades, even though it has brought in a record number of immigrants.
Comedian Jordan Shanks, known as Friendlyjordies, shared a clip earlier this week responding to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson stating that Australia’s housing crisis was being fuelled by mass immigration.
Mr Shanks, who frequently makes videos urging his Gen Z and Millennial audience to vote for Labor despite previously admitting he shares the values of the far-left Greens, then stated: “The Albanese government is the toughest government on migration since the Hawke government, that is just a fact.”
”The Albanese government is the toughest government on migration since the Hawke government.” Jordies is such a hack, imagine believing this lol. https://t.co/ovOcY2hG0R
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) June 8, 2026
This simple chart from Macrobusiness has been doing the rounds – pic.twitter.com/RtTfV8xcDv
— Tom Playford (@TomPlayford3) June 8, 2026
The gaslighting 👆
The reality👇 pic.twitter.com/YDbYtXTLuI— Crocodile (@Crocodylus121) June 8, 2026
“They have closed so many loopholes in the permanent residency program, they have closed so many loopholes in the student visa, they have closed so many loopholes for employers importing cheap labour from overseas,” he continued.
“Migration levels are down 47% since Covid, they are continuing to fall, and if you really cared about migration, you would be behind Labor’s free trade policy, that is the most anti-migration policy since White Australia.”
Mr Shanks, who has repeatedly attacked war hero Ben Roberts-Smith in recent months, went on to say One Nation were the “most pro-migrant” anti-migration party he had ever seen, and accused them of being beholden to mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, who is a supporter of both Ms Hanson and Roberts-Smith.
The clip sparked derision on social media, where many Aussies responded with graphs showing record-high immigration since Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister in May 2022, with more than 2.5 million immigrants arriving since then for total net overseas migration of about 1.6 million.
“‘The Albanese government is the toughest government on migration since the Hawke government.’ Jordies is such a hack, imagine believing this lol,” wrote independent journalist Drew Pavlou.
“Love that ALP influencers are basically saying that migration is bad. Total victory,” wrote political commentator Dr. J Walter Sparkey on X.
“Labor are very worried about One Nation. This is all the proof you need,” wrote entrepreneur Matthew Camenzuli.
“Sorry Jordan, but are you retarded? How is this government ‘toughest’ on migration since Hawke when they are letting more migrants in than any government in history. Do you understand how numbers work? I think the answer is no,” asked another X user.
Labor has exceeded every one of its net overseas migration forecasts since forming government under Mr Albanese for net overseas migration (NOM) of 538,000 in 2022-23, 429,000 in 2023-24, and 306,000 in 2024-25, well above the pre-Covid average of about 223,000 from 2009 to 2019.
According to last month’s Federal Budget, the estimated NOM figure for the 2025-26 financial year is now 295,000, up from the 260,000 predicted in December, and 245,000 in 2026-27, an increase of 20,000 on the previous forecast.
Labor claims it will then fall to 225,000 in 2027-28, adding up to 765,000 over the next three years.
Added to the previous three years’ NOM, this means total net overseas migration will be at least 2 million under the Albanese Labor government by the next federal election, which is due by May 2028.
Header image: Left, Mr Shanks in his video (X). A chart showing net overseas migration under Labor (Reddit).
