The Australian Hotels Association has launched a striking new advertisement campaign warning Australians about the economic consequences of sweeping migration cuts being proposed by every major political party, depicting a future where a single apple costs $47 and aged care residents are left without carers.
The campaign, released this week, takes aim at what the AHA describes as a dangerous gap in the national immigration debate, arguing that the knock-on effects of slashing migrant worker numbers are going entirely unaddressed by politicians across the spectrum.
What the advertisement shows
The ad opens with a man approaching a large red button beneath a sign reading "Press button to run Australia without migrant workers." After a character asks "what's the worst that could happen?" and presses the button, the imagined consequences unfold in a series of darkly comic scenes.
Baristas and bar staff walk out of cafes and pubs. An aged care worker says an emotional farewell to a lonely elderly resident who tells her he will miss their conversations. In a barren supermarket, a boy asks his father if he can have the last rotting apple on the shelf, priced at $47. When the father demands to know where all the fruit has gone, a supermarket employee replies simply: "Still on the trees."
AHA chief executive Stephen Ferguson said the ad is designed to reflect a reality that could genuinely confront everyday Australians if the country loses the bulk of its migrant workforce without any honest reckoning about what those workers actually do.
The immigration debate missing a crucial conversation
"I understand Australians are anxious about migration and we completely understand that," Ferguson said. "But in all the conversations going on about migration, no political party is talking about the knock-on effect of losing workers out of the economy, whether that be workers out of hospitals, aged care, abattoirs, fruit picking, across the whole economy."
Ferguson stressed that Australian businesses prioritise hiring local workers, but turn to overseas recruitment only when domestic labour is unavailable. He pointed to working holiday makers as particularly vital in seasonal and regional industries, noting they are willing to travel to areas like Cairns, Cooktown, Broome and Darwin to fill hospitality and agricultural roles that many residents are unwilling or unable to take on.
"Working holidaymakers help us in seasonal areas," he said. "They'll work up there in the hospitality industry and they'll also work" in agriculture and other sectors that depend on temporary, mobile labour.
For broader context on the shifting patterns behind Australia's immigration numbers, see our earlier coverage on why Australia's migration figures have remained high.
What the major parties are proposing
One Nation is leading the charge, with plans to cut immigration by 750,000 people over three years and drive net overseas migration into negative territory. Its recent polling success has pushed the other major parties to harden their own positions.
The Coalition has proposed cutting a third of annual overseas migration in the first year, reducing temporary visa holders by 650,000 over four years, halving Australia's humanitarian intake, and cutting working holiday maker visas by 23,700.
Labor wants to reduce net overseas migration to 245,000 by July 2027, falling to 225,000 annually thereafter. It also proposes limiting working holiday makers eligible for a second-year stay to 45,000 (down from 57,000), capping third-year stays at 5,000 (down from 31,000), and placing overstayers in detention facilities.
Industry pushback grows
The AHA campaign signals a growing unease among industry groups that the political consensus on cutting migration is moving faster than any serious assessment of the economic consequences. Ferguson's message is pointed: the conversation must include what Australia stands to lose, not just what it might gain from lower immigration numbers.
With all three major political forces aligned on reducing migrant arrivals, the hotel and hospitality sector is making clear it intends to put the human and economic cost of those cuts firmly in the public eye.
