Sunrise host Nat Barr has demanded the Albanese government reveal how it intends to deal with the more than 77,000 people staying in the country illegally.
It was revealed via a Freedom of Information request that tens of thousands of people are living in the country despite their visas being cancelled or expiring.
Department of Home Affairs data indicated that this figure had reached 77,700 by the end of the last financial year.
'My party takes a very grim view of people who don't follow the rules,' Housing Minister Clare O'Neil told Barr on Wednesday.
'We've done a lot of work so far on trying to make sure that we remove people from the country who are not here with a legal basis.
'And I'd say very clearly to people, if you do not have a valid visa, you need to leave the country. And our government is working through that backlog at the moment.'
But O'Neil failed to offer any specifics when pressed by Barr on the issue.
'They're ignoring you, aren't they, because people have overstayed their visa or had it cancelled. How are you finding them if there's 77,000 left?' Barr said.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil (pictured) said the government takes a 'grim view' of people who stay in Australia illegally, but could not provide specifics on tough action being taken
O'Neil insisted that the government has 'lots of ways of doing that'.
'Nat, what you see is our security agencies work very closely with the Department of Immigration to try to assist us in keeping on top of that problem,' she said.
O'Neil had been pushed to comment on the data after it was published by The Daily Telegraph alongside criticism from a national security strategist.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute director Dr John Coyne said the government has been flying blind in its response to people who unlawfully remain.
'These figures are an estimate because the government simply does not know who these people are and who remains in the country,' he said.
'This is the nature of overstayers.
'These figures indicate that, as a nation, we have challenges managing our air arrivals into the country, and they show we have a big challenge that has not markedly improved, despite an increase in spending.
'These figures also show that while Australians focus on the highly-politicised maritime arrivals of the past, we are not prioritising air arrivals as much as we should.'
Sunrise co-host Nat Barr pointed out that people are 'ignoring' the Albanese government
Immigration has dominated headlines in Canberra for the last few days after the Coalition promised to launch a sweeping overhaul of Australia's migration system.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor declared the number of people trying to stay and live in Australia is 'out of control'.
So far, the package includes expanded social media screening of visa applicants, a new values-based compliance framework, a 'safe country' list for some asylum claims, tougher action against overstayers and a return to temporary protection visas.
While reiterating that Australia's migration program will remain non‑discriminatory, Taylor argued for a stronger stance on values.
It is seen as an attempt to claw back ground from Pauline Hanson's conservative One Nation party, which has hoovered up swathes of disillusioned former Liberals and Nationals voters in the aftermath of the coalition's worst-ever election defeat.
But the plan has been widely criticised by human rights groups, Labor and communities the Coalition previously sought to court.
The policy emboldens Nazis and white supremacists, and paves the way for hatred towards diverse communities, Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman warned.
'Whenever migrants are singled out, dehumanised or blamed, it gives permission for racism towards those people,' he told AAP.
Immigration has dominated headlines in Canberra for the last few days after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor (pictured) promised to overhaul of the migration system
'Often the only signal as to whether someone is a migrant is the colour of their skin or their accent or their name, so it taps into a deep undercurrent of racism that is still very much flowing in this country.'
While Labor has condemned Taylor's plan as 'desperate dog-whistling', the party has played a part in scapegoating immigrants, the commissioner said.
The opposition has previously tried to repair relations with the Chinese-Australian community, but Taylor's latest speech has only added to the diaspora's concerns.
'I feel like nothing has changed since the last election,' Chinese Community Council of Australia's Victorian chapter committee member Eric Yan Ma told AAP.
'It is disheartening to see that one side of politics portrays us as a liability and the other side only see the utility of us. How about just see us as humans?'
