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Parish Patience Solicitors, Immigration Law Section
www.parishpatience.com.au/immigration/

No room at the inn for refugees

Opposition buckles under government pressure on boat people

On 24 November the ALP Senators voted together with the government to defeat a motion proposed by Senator Andrew Bartlett (Australian Democrats) which would have disallowed new Regulations which discriminate against refugee applicants who enter Australia without visas. Details of the discriminatory Regulations were given in the November issue of Australian Immigration Law Update.

Speaking for the ALP, Senator Chris Schacht said that although the policy had "many holes and flaws" it was "what the government want to do". He did not elaborate on this radical new approach to the role of a parliamentary opposition. Presumably from now on the Parliament will be a much quieter place with the Opposition not opposing anything.

In answer to a question from Senator Brian Harradine (Independent), asking why the ALP was supporting the Regulations if they didn't agree with them, Senator Schacht admitted that the government had come up with a "good little political stunt", meaning that if the Regulations were disallowed the government could then blame the Opposition for any increase in the number of "boat people" arrivals.

The genuine refugees looking for "room at the inn" this Christmas will now face discriminatory treatment in Australia because the Opposition, on its own admission, has been well and truly outmanoeuvred by the government.

Index to Commonwealth Hansards - http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/index.htm
November Update - http://www.parishpatience.com.au/immigration/nl15.htm

Illegal immigrants still main focus of government policy

This month saw the release of a publication entitled Protecting the Border: Immigration compliance. It was launched by the Minister with the wish that is be "circulated widely, not only to law enforcement agencies but also to community organisations, schools, universities and libraries".

The work is basically a compilation of miscellaneous statistics, anecdotes and sweeping statements (eg "Young Australian women from low socio-economic backgrounds are most likely to enter into a contrived (sham) marriage"). The Minister also announced the introduction of fines and jail terms for employers knowingly hiring people without work permits, commenting that such people "taking jobs from Australians".

Protecting the Border publication - http://www.immi.gov.au/illegals/border.htm
Media Release on illegal workers - http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media_releases/media99/r99173.htm

Working Holiday Program numbers to increase

The government followed up its earlier promise to increase numbers in the Working Holiday Program. The total this financial year is expected to be 78,000, up from 65,000. Although the Minister announced that new agreements were being discussed with several countries, none have yet been gazetted.

The countries under consideration are Spain, France, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Italy, Greece, Israel, Cyprus, and the USA. Further down the track may be Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

One of the stated aims of the program, according to the Minister, is to ensure that "Australian employers have access to a larger pool of seasonal workers". Coincidentally, this appears also to be one of the main areas where illegal workers are "taking Australian jobs".

Media release - http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media_releases/media99/r99174.htm

Bonds for (some) visitors

Responding to submissions from an External Reference Group the Minister has foreshadowed a plan to allow people who would otherwise "experience difficulties in establishing their bona fides" as genuine business or family visitors to be sponsored by someone in Australia who would put up a bond to guarantee the visitor would not overstay.

No further details of the plan are available as yet.

Media release - http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media_releases/media99/r99173.htm

Hot links

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*:

• http://home.netscape.com/netcenter/smallbusiness/index.html - Netscape's information site for small business operators
• http://speechbot.research.compaq.com/ - an experimental index of US Radio shows compiled using speech recognition technology
• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ - the internet link to the famous magazine

*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.

Contact us:

Parish Patience Solicitors
Immigration Law Section
Level 1, State Street Centre
338 Pitt Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
AUSTRALIA 

Tel: +612 9286 8700
Fax: +612 9283 3323
Email

Liability is limited by the Solicitors Scheme under the Professional Standards Act 1994 (NSW)

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Copyright © Parish Patience Solicitors 1999. All rights reserved.