THE TEMASEK REVIEW

News.com.au, 8 February 2010

FOREIGN doctors, nurses and school teachers who speak good English and have jobs already organised will be Australia’s top priority migrants under a major overhaul of immigration policy.

The changes, to be unveiled by Immigration Minister Chris Evans today, are expected to target professionals with university degrees who are sponsored by employers and discourage self-nominating migrants such as cooks, hairdressers and accountants.

The new policy will axe the Migration Occupations on Demand List, which lists 106 occupations in demand.

Only half the migrants entering Australia with skills on the MODL actually end up employed in their field and one-third end up unemployed or in a low-skill job, Senator Evans said.

It will be replaced by a new Skilled Occupations List of high-value professions and trades drawn up by Skills Australia.

The Federal Government’s overhaul of the skilled migration program could damage Australia’s reputation abroad, the Federal Opposition has warned.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said there would be big transition costs associated with the changes, which would hit the international education sector hard.

This is because there are many foreign students already taking courses on the in-demand list, whose study may no longer improve their chances of permanent migration.

“There’ll be many students who’ll be caught between a rock and a hard place,” Mr Morrison said.

“It addition … there’ll be a lot of pressure on those colleges (catering to overseas students) and I suspect many will fail.

“That will obviously have impacts for jobs.”

Australia’s reputation as a destination for skilled migration could be jeopardised as a result, he said.

He urged the Government to ensure that two-thirds of Australia’s migration program came from the skilled workforce.

“It’s important skilled migration remain the dominant component of our migration intake because it … contributes to the economy, that pays the taxes, that pays for the hospitals and the roads and the services,” he said.

More than 20,000 foreigners who applied to migrate to Australia before September 2007 under outdated rules that allowed lower English skills will have their applications withdrawn and their $1500-$2000 applications fees refunded under the changes.

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Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said there would be big transition costs associated with the changes, which would hit the international education sector hard.

This is because there are many foreign students already taking courses on the in-demand list, whose study may no longer improve their chances of permanent migration.

“There’ll be many students who’ll be caught between a rock and a hard place,” Mr Morrison said.

“It addition … there’ll be a lot of pressure on those colleges (catering to overseas students) and I suspect many will fail.

“That will obviously have impacts for jobs.”

Australia’s reputation as a destination for skilled migration could be jeopardised as a result, he said.

He urged the Government to ensure that two-thirds of Australia’s migration program came from the skilled workforce.

“It’s important skilled migration remain the dominant component of our migration intake because it … contributes to the economy, that pays the taxes, that pays for the hospitals and the roads and the services,” he said.

More than 20,000 foreigners who applied to migrate to Australia before September 2007 under outdated rules that allowed lower English skills will have their applications withdrawn and their $1500-$2000 applications fees refunded under the changes.

Read rest of article

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said there would be big transition costs associated with the changes, which would hit the international education sector hard.

This is because there are many foreign students already taking courses on the in-demand list, whose study may no longer improve their chances of permanent migration.

“There’ll be many students who’ll be caught between a rock and a hard place,” Mr Morrison said.

“It addition … there’ll be a lot of pressure on those colleges (catering to overseas students) and I suspect many will fail.

“That will obviously have impacts for jobs.”

Australia’s reputation as a destination for skilled migration could be jeopardised as a result, he said.

He urged the Government to ensure that two-thirds of Australia’s migration program came from the skilled workforce.

“It’s important skilled migration remain the dominant component of our migration intake because it … contributes to the economy, that pays the taxes, that pays for the hospitals and the roads and the services,” he said.

More than 20,000 foreigners who applied to migrate to Australia before September 2007 under outdated rules that allowed lower English skills will have their applications withdrawn and their $1500-$2000 applications fees refunded under the changes.

Read rest of article here

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