Opposition housing spokesman Andrew Bragg will use a major speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday to call for a cut to net overseas migration levels by nearly half to meet the rate of new housing supply being built.
Treasury modelling published in the May budget expects net overseas migration to fall from 301,000 to 225,000 by the end of the decade.
Senator Bragg will advocate for an average annual net overseas migration rate of 180,000 to make up for a shortfall of housing.
But his colleague, shadow treasurer Tim Wilson, backed away from confirming the number just hours before the speech.
Mr Wilson was pressed on the topic during a News24 interview, in which he said: "I don't think you should bank that at all (the 180,000 figure). Let's just wait and see, firstly, what Senator Bragg's saying in his speech".
"We haven't made an announcement about where we're going to be going into the next election, but our focus is actually about what we need to do to invest in the long-term growth and success of our country," he said.
Despite his colleague's hesitancy, Senator Bragg is expected to say the changes would be the right ones for long-term growth in the country.
"Lifting migration standards, and analysing them carefully each year, is crucial to ensure integrity and public trust in our migration settings," he will say.
Building codes will also come under fire during the speech.
"It is now illegal to build a cheap house in Australia," Senator Bragg will say.
The centrepiece of Senator Bragg's speech will be a commitment to replace the National Construction Code with a new 80-page Basic Australian Standard.
The codes sets the minimum required level for the safety, health, amenity, accessibility and sustainability of certain buildings detailed in more than 2000 pages.
The coalition's new standards will focus on cost-effective structural, fire safety and health-related building standards.
"Anything else like mandatory ramps, flattened shower flooring or reinforced walls would be optional extras," Senator Bragg will say.
"The house won't be gold-plated but it won't fall apart. It will be safe," he will continue.
Labor announced it would freeze the National Construction Code following its productivity roundtable in mid-2026.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil brushed off calls from the coalition to cut the construction standards to 200-pages earlier in 2026.
"I've talked to builders about that, they laugh their heads off. That is absolutely ridiculous," Ms O'Neil told the National Press Club in May.
The government is not far off presenting a final plan to building minister later this year to streamline the code, Treasurer Jim Chalmers told ABC Radio National on Wednesday.
Senator Bragg has also called for the creation of a federal pattern book of model homes that could be given automatic approval by the states and territories.
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