Immigration
CareerOne's guide to work-related election policies
The Coalition | Labor | The Democrats | The Greens | Family First
The Coalition
Minister: Kevin Andrews, (Immigration and Citizenship)
October 4: Kevin Andrews announces a reduction in the proportion of refugees
from Africa.
The Government decided to reduce the proportion of refugees from Africa to 30 per cent of the 13,000 quota this year following reports of "difficulties in successfully settling in Australia" and "high levels of community concerns" including: the establishment of race based gangs; concern among some community leaders as to the increase in crime among African youth and reports of a developing trend of young African males congregating in parks at night, often to consume alcohol.
2007 policy changes include:
Amending the Australian Citizenship Act; this includes a new Citizenship Test which applicants must pass. Migrants must also sign the Australian Values Statement.
Amendment to Temporary Skills Migration (457 Visa)
Australian Citizenship Act 1948, amended July 2007
Those people born or naturalised in Australia before January 26, 1949, were British citizens. That changed on Australia Day, 1949, with the Australian Citizenship Act. Under Section 17, if an Australian became a citizen of another country they were stripped of their citizenship.
The Act was changed in 2002, but the changes were not retrospective. This changed in July 2007, when Australians who moved abroad and lost their citizenship could re-apply for citizenship, as can their descendants - as long as they can establish their line of descent and are of good character. The new provisions in the Act prohibit the approval of a citizenship applicant who is assessed by ASIO as a risk to the security of Australia.
Citizenship Test
The new Citizenship Test commenced Oct 1, 2007. Applicants take a multiple choice test of 20 questions and must pass at least 12. Applicants must have lived in Australia for a minimum period of four years before they can apply for citizenship.
Sample questions:
Who was the first Prime Minister of Australia?
What is the first line of Australia's national anthem?
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Defending the test, Minister Andrews told reporters: "Ultimately, if you are becoming a citizen of Australia, we expect you to share the common values that we have in this country and know something about the way of life and heritage of Australia."
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In the last Federal Budget, $123.6 million in funding was allocated to the test to be spent over the next five years. This includes $107.4 million on the test itself; $6.2 million on the booklet Life in Australia; and $10 million on Australian Values Statements.
Australian Values Statement: From 15 October, all applicants aged 18 years and over are required to sign a values statement confirming that they will respect the Australian way of life and obey its laws, when applying for selected visas. Appicants must have read the Life in Australia booklet.
Temporary skilled migration visa (subclass 457)
Introduced by the Government in the mid-1990s, the 457 visa scheme enabled employers to bring "temporary" workers to Australia from overseas. The Coalition claimed it created the scheme to tackle the skill shortages in some industries. Under the scheme, workers can be employed for between three months and four years.
Critics have argued that these "guest workers" might be exposed to unfair or unsafe working conditions or that they might be underpaid. Three foreign workers from the Philippines and China died in workplace incidents this year. Minister Andrews has confirmed 17 other foreign workers on 457 visas have died over the past five years.
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The Recruitment & Consulting Services Association supported the 457 Visa scheme as a way for its on hire labour company members to bring in additional people to fill shortages for its clients. The RCSA acknowledged that some employers had abused the 457 system but says the abusers were not its members.
"Minister for Immigration Kevin Andrews is trying to create barriers for an industry that has been instrumental in addressing the nation's skills crisis, and which has never been found to be abusing the 457 system. It simply doesn't make sense," says RCSA CEO Julie Mills.
She says the changes had thrown the on hire sector into disarray and put in jeopardy valuable projects across a number of sectors including energy, mining and resources. The supply of IT, healthcare, energy and resources workers would be particularly badly hit, with WA and Queensland suffering the most. Also, nurses would have to stay with one employer for four years and "for a nurse keen to see the diversity of Australia's cities and regions, that is not an attractive option," Ms Mills said.
"Two of Australia's largest companies, Santos and Comalco, are scheduled to start major projects in Gladstone in early 2008. Due to a lack of Australian candidates, this on-hire company has sourced around 70 overseas staff (both trade and professional) to meet the labour demands of the projects, but their 457 visas are now at risk."
Amendments to the scheme include:
April 2007: new civil penalties for employers who breach the law, greater powers for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Office of Workplace Services to investigate employers; faster processing of applications for some employers; a higher English language requirement.
June 2007: Minister Andrews introduced the Migration Amendment (Sponsorship Obligations) Bill 2007 into Parliament, claiming it would give the Government the necessary power to stop the abuse of vulnerable foreign workers by "a small minority of employers who have sought to abuse the program".
The amendments require that employers pay 457 visa workers at least the minimum wage set down in legislation (currently $41,850).
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Labor
Shadow Minister: Tony Burke (Immigration, Integration & Citizenship)
November 23: Rudd to turn back boat people
Rudd has promised a tough and integrated border-protection policy including close co-operation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Indonesian Government. He said Labor would take asylum-seekers who had been rescued from leaky boats to Christmas Island, turn back seaworthy vessels containing such people on the high seas, and would not lift the current intake of African refugees.
Policy areas include:
- Adult Migrant English Program
- Employment Pathways Program
- Retention of 457 Visa
In a speech to the ALP national conference in April, Burke accused the Government of abusing human rights over its treatment of people on temporary work visas and the treatment of refugees.
"There are two areas of immigration where human rights well and truly have been put under the hammer by Government," he said. "The first is the way people on temporary work visas are being treated. And the second is the treatment of refugees where there is a very simple principle that Australia ought to adopt. And that is that when people flee persecution and they reach Australia, at that point the persecution must end."
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Adult Migrant English Program: Will commit $49.2 million over four years, offer a new traineeship to migrants in Australia and introduce a new-style Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) to help migrants learn English and pass the new citizenship test. July 2007.
Employment Pathways Program: $40 million for extra English language tuition hours for those students most in need.
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Labor supports the 457 visa scheme, but has called for an investigation into the effectiveness of the program.
"Death prompts calls for 457 visa inquiry":
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The Democrats
Spokesperson: Senator Andrew Bartlett (Immigration & Multicultural Affairs)
The Democrats support 457 visas with reservations: "The Democrats share concerns about the minority of unscrupulous employers who have seriously exploited some migrants working under the 457 Visa program," Senator Bartlett said.
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The Greens
Spokesperson: Senator Kerry Nettle (Immigration & Multicultural Affairs)
The Greens oppose the 457 visa scheme:
In a policy statement Senator Nettle explained why: "Present immigration policy is heavily biased towards attracting skilled migrants. This robs other countries in our region as well as deterring governments from local training schemes. Accepting immigrants from poor countries harms the donor countries. We could do more to help our neighbours by increasing overseas aid to the United Nations recommended figure of 0.7 per cent of GDP."
The Greens want
- An immigration program that is predominantly based on family reunions and other special humanitarian criteria as defined by international human rights Conventions.
- All migrants to be given access to a full range of culturally sensitive, appropriate health services including a comprehensive medical examination on arrival.
- Services for new migrants to include appropriate English language classes, social security, legal and interpreter services, programs to ease transition to Australia's multicultural society, and post-trauma counselling where needed.
- The elimination of the policies of mandatory detention, the 'Pacific solution', temporary protection visas and other forms of harsh, punitive or discriminatory treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.
- Asylum seekers who arrive without a valid visa to have their claims for asylum assessed while living in the community.
- Planning for climate change refugees with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region.
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Family First
Spokesperson: Steve Fielding
Family First "recognises the importance of ensuring well managed immigration programs that, while supporting Australia's interests, are also compassionate and supportive of families".
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