what’s news in immigration?

Australia rejects up to 400 people a day

8 April 2008 Hundreds of people are being refused entry to Australia each day because they are deemed not good enough. The Rudd Government hinted it had no plans to relax its immigration policy as new data revealed almost 650,000 visa applications had been rejected by the Immigration Department since 2004. The statistics, which equate to about 400 rejections a day, were drawn from a question on notice which took more than a year to table in Federal Parliament. more...

Baby boomer tourists could solve skills shortage

11 April 2008 The tourism industry has welcomed calls from the Queensland government to lift holiday visa restrictions to allow baby boomers from across the globe to work in Australia. Tourism Minister, Desley Boyle, today said “the move would help solve the state's skills crisis and she had written to federal Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, seeking his support.” Under current provisions, 12-month holiday visas are available to 18 to 30-year-old workers.   more...

Govt considers temp visa plan for 'labourdrought'

3 April 2008 The National Farmers Federation today launched a 42-point action plan to try and fill what it calls the chronic labour shortage in agriculture. The NFF says that if the drought breaks across the country, the sector will need 100,000 employees. The organisation is calling for changes to the 457 visa legislation, and the creation of a seasonal visa programme targeting Pacific Islanders. The government says it's assessing a temporary visa programme being tried out in New Zealand to see if it could work here.   more...

Pacific solution for labour shortage

10 April 2008 Queensland's senior horticultural industry body wants to introduce a scheme to encourage Pacific Islanders to come and work in the labour-stretched fruit and vegetable industries. Growcom, formerly Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, is backing the Queensland Tourism Council push for the Federal Government to remove an "ageist" 18 to 30 age restriction on holiday working visas.   more...

Compliance operation picks up 13 illegal workers in North Queensland 

4 April 2008 Immigration compliance officers have located 13 people suspected of illegally working in the agricultural industry near Cairns, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, said today. People with information on visa overstayers or illegal workers should call the Immigration Dob-In Line.   more...

Illegal migrants workers detained in WA

10 April 2008 Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, said “All 16 people had originally arrived in Australia legally with valid visas”. They had either overstayed their visas or entered Australia on non-work visas, a spokesman for the minister said.   more...

Illegal workers will be deported promptly

11 April 2008 A number of illegal workers found in the south west have been taken to a Perth detention centre to be repatriated as quickly as possible. The President of the WA Farmers Federation, Mike Norton, says “It is not surprising overseas workers are outstaying their visas. People are desperate to try and get labour, and entrepreneurs will try and bend the rules to accommodate them".   more...

NFF wants special horticulture visa for Pacific Islanders

7 April 2008 The federal government should introduce a new visa to allow Pacific Islanders to fill 22,000 entry level vacancies in horticulture, Australia's peak farming body says.   more...

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