By Stephen Johnson For Daily Mail Australia
Published: 07:49 BST, 11 April 2019 | Updated: 08:08 BST, 11 April 2019
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Australia's immigration rate has surged to a new record high with more than 115,000 permanent arrivals in just one month.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released new immigration figures on Thursday, hours after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called an election for May 18.
The overseas arrivals data showed 115,100 new people declared Australia as their new home in February, as annual immigration soared by a record 844,800.
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Australia's immigration rate has surged a new record high with more than 115,000 permanent arrivals in just one month (Sydney's Wynyard train station at peak hour pictured)
The number of new immigrants during the year was 11.4 per cent higher than the same period in 2018.
When the number of people leaving Australia for good was taken into account, the net annual immigration rate stood at a five-year high of 299,190, which includes international students.
In March, Mr Morrison vowed to slash Australia's net annual immigration rate from 190,000 to 160,000.
This level, however, is still dramatically higher than the
