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Outspoken federal Labor backbencher Kelvin Thomson says Australia should shut the door to thousands of New Zealanders to help stabilise the nation's population.
Australia has an open door policy with New Zealand and the number of Kiwis permanently settling in Australia has jumped from 16 thousand in 2002/03 to 48 thousand last financial year.
Mr Thomson says the government needs to do away with the open door policy and New Zealanders should only be offered places when people leave Australia.
He says if total overseas migration isn't slashed by more than half to 70 thousand a year quality of life will decline, traffic congestion will increase and backyards and open spaces will disappear.
