Both Labor and Liberals have promised to change the system for sponsoring parents, but Labor Immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann today announced its visa would be cheaper and without a cap on the number of recipients.
"This is about making sure that people from migrant and multicultural communities can get time and love and affection with their grand parents," he said.
The government's visa costs $5,000 for three years and $10,000 for five years.
It can be renewed once, meaning the longest a parent can stay is ten years and there's an annual cap of $15,000 visas.
If elected, Labor is promising to slash the fee, which will be $1250 for three years and $2,500 for five years, and also remove the annual cap.
Labor says its visa will be fairer for families - however, this comes at a time trying to win over migrant voters in places like Western Sydney.
Certain conditions such as the purchasing of private health insurance will still have to be met, but Labor's policy is being welcomed by Peter Doukas from the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia.
"We think it is a basic human right, for people who are living here amongst Australians, in some cases as Australians, to be able to bring their parents here to live with them," Doukas said.
Immigration Minister David Coleman, whose seat of Banks is one of Australia’s most multi-cultural, said Labor’s uncapped visa proposal showed “a complete lack of regard for sensible immigration and population planning”.
“Under Labor’s new visa, there is absolutely no limit to the number of people who can enter the country for up to 10 years,” Mr Coleman told .
“This is no way to run a sensible immigration program, or population policy. These programs are carefully managed to ensure that the number of visas granted are sustainable for the Australian economy and population growth.”
Giovanni Moroni, from Lucca, in central Italy, moved to Melbourne in June last year to help his two children raise their kids - a seven-year old and a one-year old.
He migrated to Australia under a visa called and has applied for the permanent.
The entire process is costing him and his wife $110,000 in total.
Mr Moroni says the Long-Stay parent visa (Sponsored) Parent Temporary Subclass 870 visa does not make any sense.
"This visa is a joke. Has anyone thought about.. what will these parents do after ten years? Will Australia kick them out of the country when they are 70? What will they do? Kick them out or say 'you need to pay another $100,000?' They say 'come here and in ten years, you sort yourself out'. It doesn't make any sense".
