Australia’s net migration levels are “too high” and need to be drastically reduced to keep housing affordability and rising rent prices at bay, a senior Liberal figure has claimed, while also dodging questions as to what the Coalition wants to see happen in the future. Opposition immigration minister Dan TehanContinue Reading
A proposed plan to limit backpackers visiting Australia on a holiday working visa for just one year could cost local businesses and tourism vendors in Western Australia up to $360 million dollars. Under a major overhaul of the country’s migration system, the federal government is considering placing a one-year capContinue Reading
A major visa program targeted to attract wealthy investors to Australia has been quietly scrapped. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil told NCA NewsWire on Monday why she made the decision to pull the trigger on the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP), a scheme introduced in 2012 in a bidContinue Reading
The federal government will crack down on student visas and “visa hopping”, while making it easier for highly skilled migrants to work in Australia, as part of a major overhaul to fix the “broken” migration system. The government will release the long-awaited migration strategy on Monday, outlining plans to reduceContinue Reading
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has taken his jobs manifesto to the Queensland outback, visiting regional towns of Rockhampton, Winton, Longreach and Bundaberg. Released on Monday, the Treasurer’s 252-page jobs plan, which includes 31 ‘broad reform directions’, nine new ‘policy initiatives’ and a union-backed ambition of zero involuntary unemployment, was largely aContinue Reading
Major changes are set for Australian workers as the government races to address a rapidly aging population and looming changes to the global economy. The first treasury document of its kind since 1994, the new employment white paper released on Monday and entitled ‘Working Future’, includes initiatives and policy directionsContinue Reading
The government is set to get to work on its jobs plan with the release of its employment white paper in Adelaide on Monday in a bid to build a “dynamic and inclusive” labour market. The first treasury document of its kind since 1994, the jobs blueprint is set toContinue Reading
The federal government is planning to further turbocharge immigration with an overhauled visa process for skilled workers that will take days, not months. Under the planned migration overhaul, details of which were leaked to The Australian Financial Review on Wednesday, businesses will be able to bring in foreign skilled workersContinue Reading
Anthony Albanese is set to unveil a major new strategy to turbocharge economic ties with southeast Asia and reduce Australia’s reliance on China. The Prime Minister has travelled to Jakarta where he will launch the Southeast Asian Economic Strategy at the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum on Wednesday. The strategy, which containsContinue Reading
The federal government has been called to amend a bill to ensure vulnerable migrant workers will not face deportation for reporting employer exploitation. On Wednesday, Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister Andrew Giles will launch a report into the disturbing treatment of temporary migrant workers, titled: Not Just Numbers: AContinue Reading