Immigration shake-up to target ‘best and brightest’ foreign workers
A MAJOR shake-up of the nation’s complex immigration system will comb through all 99 different visas to weed out those most likely to be abused by dole bludgers.
NSW
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A MAJOR shake-up of the nation’s complex immigration system will comb through all 99 different visas to weed out those most likely to be abused by dole bludgers.
The government wants to instead ensure only the “best and brightest” are being lured to Australia.
Sources close to the Home Affairs Department review told The Saturday Telegraph that visas which tend to attract migrants who end up dependent on welfare would be in the firing line to be axed.
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It comes after the government’s decision to axe 457 visas almost halved the number of foreign workers and has pushed the average salary up, in a sign that Australia is already beginning to sift out poorly skilled migrants.
Foreign workers were paid $110,000 on average the past financial year, up $15,000, while fewer than 35,000 skills visas were approved compared with almost 70,000 at the height of the 457 program.
Immigration Minister David Coleman is also expected to push ahead with plans to encourage migrants to live in regional areas to reduce population pressures in Sydney and Melbourne.
“It is our immigration program and it must reflect our choices,” Mr Coleman told The Saturday Telegraph.
“In particular, we need to look closely at ways of attracting the very best and brightest and filling employment gaps in regional areas.
“We know that Australia’s immigration needs aren’t the same in all areas, and policy should take that into account.
“Where the system can be improved to better match immigration patterns to needs in specific jobs or locations, we should do that.”
Earlier this year The Daily Telegraph revealed the department was developing new visa rules to stop migrants who had promised to live in the bush from heading straight to the big cities on their arrival.
Recent figures showed that only 7000 foreigners who moved to Australia last year lived outside the capital cities.
However, of 112,000 skilled migrants who arrived in the last financial year — using 457 visas as well as a range of other regional based types — 87 per cent settled in Sydney or Melbourne.