https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Pages/22-november-invitation-round.aspx
Note this comment about December invites –
“Invitation numbers in each round may vary depending on the number of applications being processed by the department.”
This may explain why DIBP have slowed down dramatically their invitations. There is a 6 months backlog of 189 applications at the moment and so there is no incentive for DIBP to invite the full program (43,990 people or around 31,000 invites) each year when they have so many who have applied already.
It makes sense then to NOT invite so many EOIs and allow themselves to get rid of their backlog of current cases. As such this would be a huge game changer as it may well mean much LONGER waiting times for those people currently for an invitation.
There is now no guarantee that DIBP will fill their whole quota of invites in the pro rata occupations for 2017/18 and the invite mark is going to continue to stay high under this interpretation.