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Registered
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www.parishpatience.com.au/immigration/
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| Issue No 24 | August 2000 | |||||
| Migrants or Guest Workers? | ||||||
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| Government prefers temporary residents
to permanent migrants In what amounts to the most significant change in immigration policy since the abolition of the "White Australia Policy", the government has made it clear that it believes the future lies in temporary rather than permanent settlement. In an article published in a Liberal Party journal and summarised in The Australian on 19 July, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Philip Ruddock, made the government's thinking clear: "We cannot afford to return to the days where permanent resettlement numbers were the goal, and skilled migrants and economic advancement were unregarded concepts". Just when those days were is not stated, nor for that matter is any argument advanced about why there should be a dichotomy between permanent settlement and a skills- or economic-based migration program. Some employers favour temporary residents because they are not allowed to change jobs without prior approval. Self-interest aside, there is no valid reason why temporary migrants should be better than permanent ones. The fact that the modern workforce is more mobile is no justification for closing off the option of permanent settlement. It is also hard to undertand why a government which claims to support traditional values has now decided to dump the traditional (and highly successful) Australian tradition of encouraging migrants to settle and become part of our community in favour of one which seems destined to create deep divisions between classes of people with different levels of commitment to this country and different degrees of acceptance into the community. Surely this is a case of "If it ain't broke, why fix it?". Australian Labor Party proposes a National Population Policy At its National conference in Hobart at the end of July, the ALP put forward plans for a National Population policy which would include long-term immigration planning as part of a co-ordinated policy covering areas such as desirable rates of economic growth; resource constraints; environmental management; internal migration; urban form; industry and regional development policy; and the fertility and mortality of Australia's current population. Suggesting that the administration of visitor policy by current government falls short of desirable standards of fairness, the ALP's policy promises "a more equitable, flexible, fair and non-discriminatory system". Taking the opposite view to the current government (see previous article), the Labor Party would "act to prevent the establishment in Australia of a semi-permanent group of "guest workers" on short term but renewable visas". Labor also indicated it would "maintain a cap on the size of the working holiday scheme", without elaborating on how large that cap would be. Policy statement The announcement of a plan to
assist new settlers in Tasmania has been
approved by the Federal government, while the Tasmanian
State government has accused Canberra of hypocrisy over
its treatment of migrants and refugees. A guide
for visitors to Australia during the Olympics
and Paralympics has been issued in 23 languages. It
covers subjects such as visas, Customs, quarantine,
health and communications. On 6 July
Minister Ruddock announced the membership of the new Council
for Multicultural Australia. With each edition of Australian Immigration Law Update we will try to find some new or interesting sites that you might enjoy visiting. This month, you might like to try out some of these*:
*These sites are not in any way endorsed or connected with Parish Patience. The listing of a commercial site does not imply any recommendation or warranty concerning the products or services offered. Parish
Patience Solicitors Tel: +612
9286 8700 Liability is limited by the Solicitors Scheme under the Professional Standards Act 1994 (NSW) Previous editions:
Copyright ©
Parish Patience Solicitors 2000. All rights reserved.
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