Should the Australian immigration intake be forward planned and if so, should the resulting intake be numerically stubble through time? There are sound reasons for anticipating the effects of current on future immigration intakes decisions. Australia's long-term national objectives. These two policy requirements imply a case for forward planning but not the need for a stable immigration intake. Appropriately designed numerically unstable intakes are preferable to stable immgration intakes because instabillity, while introducing adjustment costs avoids incurring more significant losses due to loss of selectivity in determining the entry mix.