Every year for as far back as I could check the migration "Planning Level" numbers have been meet within a handful of the published levels.
Last year the number fell short by around 30,000 in the Skilled Migration sector, the other targets were reached. The general opinion for this reduction is the uncertainty of our governments and the policies they keep changing. Things like the "Backpacker Tax" and the 457 abolishment have made the prospective applicant consider other countries for migration. Many people in large city's like Sydney and Melbourne are of the opinion that our migration levels are too high - the reality is it is too small and while these two city's get a disproportionate number of migrants compared to the rest of Australia neither city has put in the required infrastructure/policy to grow. Simply take a look at Sydney, single airport and the restrictions on that - no infrastructure (2nd airport) and a curfew (a restriction on types that can be used 146 only I think) a policy that is political suicide to touch.
"While the headline planning figure has not changed since 2012–13, a number of recent policy decisions are changing the composition and actual size of the Migration Program. The planning level itself has changed from a target to a ceiling, as noted in Minister Dutton’s media release for the 2017–18 Budget. In 2016–17, for the first time, there was a large discrepancy between the planning level and the number of permanent residency visas granted. It may be the case future discrepancies exist for 2017–18 and into the forward estimates period."
There is actually an increase of around 2,000 places but they don't count the humanitarian numbers in these figures.
While many of you have posted Australia is not all roses, it is still a pretty good place to live and bring up a family. While many see allowing pilots in on visas is a bad thing and is driving down wage growth, I think many other factors are controlling wage growth even within the industry. If you look at the difference in pay for pilots between Qantas and Jetstar (owned by Qantas) you could say because Jestar pilots are working for less than the Qantas counterparts they stopping the wage growth of the Qantas pilots. I see having good people come here with good intentions is a good thing.