Hmmm ... Alan Kohler of ABC Business reported a while back that immigration was 400,000 (seemed a tad high to me..) in 2012.
Certainly Rudd's 'big australia' thought-bubble had >300,000 per year reaching our shores.
Also, flooding our job market with migrant workers only succeeds in creating a glut putting downward pressure on wages and conditions.
Abbott Govt have reduced this to around 170,000 which is surely a major taking the heat out of rentals !!
This in turn should be a positive for AUS housing costs .. especially for folks with the rather quaint notion that a home is where you live and raise a family.