Getting Down under

Australian Election Results Announced – More Opportunities For Regional Visas?

Mark — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:26:19 +0000

Well, the Australian Labour Party (headed up by Australia’s first female PM Julia Gillard) has held onto the majority of seats, and will continue as Australia’s Government for another 3 year term.

As we’ve reported earlier, Australia’s government has been in question for weeks after the election did not reveal a clear winner. However after the 3 Australian Independent Ministers made their decisions on which major party they would support, the labour party had enough seats to win the majority of power in Government.

The independent ministers will hold considerable power within the new government as they will most likely have the deciding votes in any controversial policy changes.

In terms of Australian immigration, it is expected that the independent ministers will also be pushing for more immigration to regional areas, to help boost regional populations and provide skilled professionals to regional communities. This could be a good thing for wannabe Aussie migrants looking to head out to the ‘bush’.

Will the newly elected Labour Party policies have an impact on future Australian immigration visa numbers?

Well, we’ve heard before that the Australian PM want’s to keep Australia Small. This headline grabber was before the election though when immigration numbers were, not surprisingly, a very emotive subject.

It’ll be interesting to see how things finally pan out. Australia needs more migrants to substain our growing economy. Lets just hope the folks who now find themselves in power for the long term realise that.

As always, we’ll keep you guys in the loop should anything of interest crop up over the coming weeks.

UK Sterling / Australian Dollar currency exhange rate update

Mark — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:54:10 +0000

I’ve not done one of these for a while so please find below an update following UK Sterlings rises and falls against the Aussie Dollar in recent months.

Sterling’s sharp rebound in May took the currency up to $1.75. Since then there has been a fair amount of action, but no progress in either direction. The pound has spent the majority of its time in a horizontal channel between $1.70 and $1.80. It has tried to break out, first downwards then upwards, but seems now to have become accustomed to its new home.

Investors still appreciate the attractive return that the Australian dollar offers. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s Cash Rate (akin to base rates in Britain) has been set at 4.5% since May. Some currencies offer higher returns (South Africa, Brazil, etc.) but the yield on Australian dollars is way ahead of the US dollar’s 0.125%, sterling’s 0.5% and the euro’s 1%. At 3%, the New Zealand dollar comes closer but loses out on the cigar.

Australia managed to dodge the recession. That is largely the reason why the residential property market there has not suffered the setbacks experienced by Europe and North America. A shortage of housing stock and a strong employment situation has, according to analyst Gerard Minack at investment bank Morgan Stanley, pushed prices 40% above what he considers fair value. Prices doubled through the late nineties and have remained firm for the last five years.

Indeed, Statistics Australia reported an average 18.4% price rise in the big cities during the 12 months to June. Melbourne led the way with a 24.3% increase. Minack predicted two years ago that prices would fall by 30% between then and now. He was wrong then but prices are even higher today and he is still talking about the risk of a bursting bubble.

The UK housing market is nowhere near as bouncy. Prices have risen, on average, over the last 12 months but the change is more like 4% than 24%. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Britain’s economy grew by 1.1% in the three months to June – a little more than euroland’s 1.0% and well ahead of the United States’ 0.6% and Japan’s 0.1%. The coalition government has introduced a range of measures to bring government spending back into line with the revenue from taxation. They might not be popular with the people they affect, but without them the world would have lost confidence in the pound and its value would have fallen. It is for this reason that sterling has been able to hold its own against the Australian dollar recently: It is a trustworthy currency once again.

The Australian general election may have some effect on the Australian dollar, but what that effect will be will not become properly clear until the new government has set out its plans and investors have had the opportunity to evaluate them. If you are intending to up sticks and move your money abroad, get in contact with an experienced currency dealer who will help you to buy your Australian dollars at the best time.

Thanks to the folks at Moneycorp for this update.

Hung Parliament may affect Immigration Policy in Australia

Mark — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:35:30 +0000

Last week I wrote this article about the possible impacts of a change in government on Australian immigration policy and at the time of typing I was hopeful that a few days later we would have a result.

Alas.. one week later we are no nearer to a result and it’s looking likely that a of hung Parliament may be on the cards for the first time in 70 years.

Australia’s first hung parliament since 1940 means neither Labor nor the Liberal/National coalition had the majority of 76 seats to form government in their own right.

Three returned independents – Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter – therefore, will share the balance of power with the Greens Member of Parliament Adam Bandt.

Negotiation has begun between the party leaders and the independents who on Wednesday released a list of seven demands to secure their support.

The list included access to the latest Treasury advice on election promise costings and the economic outlook for Australia. The independents also want changes to political donations, electoral funding, and truth in advertising reforms

The subject of Australian immigration has been a hot topic during the run up to the Australian election, with both candidates showing a resolve to protect the Australian way of life by reducing immigration intake if elected.

Liberal leader, Tony Abbott pledged to reduce net migration to 170,000 a year, which is a huge decrease from the peak of 300,000 in 2008, and he also said a review of migration in general was necessary.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been promoting her view of “a sustainable and small Australia” in line with her objective to protect the Australian culture.

Immigration levels and policy are largely set by the executive government, not by parliamentary law, so the hung parliament should not affect it much.

Having said that, each of the independent candidates comes from regional Australia, where the population is falling, or at least not increasing, and increased immigration is a way to address that. Whilst they have the ‘airtime’ some of these concerns could be tabled and potentially addressed.

I guess for now we are still some way away from getting any answers so as soon as we have something useful to report we’ll let you guys know.

In the meantime, one thing that has been confirmed as a result of this process is my heartfelt and undying love for all things politics. It’s just soooo interesting and fun… not!

The Australian Election and its Impact on future Australia Immigration Numbers

Mark — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:41:51 +0000

So this weekend here in Australia we have an election with the two front runners being the incumbent labour party headed up by the current PM Julia Gillard and the Federal Opposition headed up by a chap named Tony Abbott.

Immigration policy has been high on the agenda for both parties so I thought it woud be useful to write a post which provides a little more insight into each of the parties potemtial future immigration policies.

I think it’s fair to say that both parties will have ‘some‘ impact on Australian immigration numbers although thankfully both seem to share the view that a healthy intake of skilled immigrants will still be required to help guarantee the success of the Australian economy in the years to come.

To begin with, I’m not sure which country she lives in however the current Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has denied that the Labor government’s promise to cut migration would hurt economic growth.

The Labor Party has promised to deliver “a sustainable Australia”, which will involve reducing Australian Visa numbers, but has said its policies would still fuel growth.

The Australian business community has criticised Ms Gilliard, saying that her promise to slow Australian Immigration would be a bad economic step for a country that has benefited from increased living standards and prosperity since World War II because of immigration-fuelled growth.

Describing herself as a supporter of immigration, Ms Gillard, who was born in Wales in the UK, said targets had to be set according to economic circumstances and that Labor’s policies would fuel growth by encouraging Australian skills and infrastructure.

The Prime Minister said she wants to deliver skills to Australians first and has highlighted her plans for a National Broadband Network and spending on training.

The comments came as economic management dominated the Federal election campaign, and Ms Gillard declared the opposition’s economic policy is in chaos after Liberal Deputy Senate Leader George Brandis said he did not know when a Coalition government would return the budget to surplus despite the Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s guarantees of a surplus by 2012-13.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on the other hand says the Coalition’s immigration policy will look to “intelligently manage” immigration but not at the cost of Australian businesses.

The Federal Opposition says it would cut migration levels by almost half if it wins the election, reducing Australia’s net migration from nearly 300,000 people per year to just 170,000.

Mr Abbott told a press gathering skilled migration remained important to the Australian economy.

“What we are proposing is a reduction of 100,000 [immigrants] from 2009. We’re going to get there sensibly, carefully, with good advice,” he said.

“What we’re not going to do is restrict various employer-nominated categories because we think they are important for Australia’s continued economic health.

“Most are not aware but I am a migrant myself. Australia is an immigrant society. It is important that an immigration program has the support of our people and that is what this policy is designed to ensure.

“What we are announcing today is a demonstration that we are fair dinkum, that we will back up our talk with appropriate policy.”

Earlier, the Opposition’s immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, indicated the number of skilled worker visas would be protected.

“We are very keen to ensure a strong skilled migration program and one that particularly addresses the needs of regional areas,” he said.

But Population Minister Tony Burke has accused the Opposition of using a sneaky political trick.

He says migration levels are already forecast to fall even further than the Coalition’s target.

“By 2011/2012, it’s forecast that we’ll be at 145,000,” he said.

“That’s because there were rorts in the system that were put in place under the previous Government. We’ve cleaned up those rorts and they’re now working our way through the system.

“All he’s done is take existing projections over the next 12 months or so and call them his policy.”

Student visas

When asked on cutting back on student visas, Mr Abbott said he was all in favour of Australia selling education.

“But what I don’t want particularly is selling immigration outcomes in the guise of selling education,” he said.

“It is just a question of intelligently managing the program, making sure that all the entrants in these various categories are fair dinkum – that’s what we did before under Phillip Ruddock, that’s what we’ll do again.

“If we want to be a cohesive, prosperous society, we need strong popular support for the program.

“Let’s have an immigration program that people can support, that they don’t think is out of control, that they don’t think is subcontracted to people smugglers.”

Hmmmmmm.. personally I’m not sure if I would go for either party with policies like that but hopefully somebody somewhere is doing their homework…

What do you think? Let us know by posting a comment below.

Businesses fear cuts to Australian visas will worsen skills shortage

Mark — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:20:39 +0000

The promise to cut Australian immigration numbers by both Australian political parties in the lead up to the August 21 federal election has drawn the ire of the business community.

The opposition lead by Tony Abbott says it would cut the number of migrants by almost half from its current annual rate if it wins this month’s election.

Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard has also promised to reduce Australian Visa numbers to more “sustainable” levels in response to increased anxiety by the Australian public on the pressure of population on public services.

Chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, James Pearson, said he believes plans to restrict immigrant numbers are short-sighted.

“Australia is a migrant-based society,” he says. “We’re one of the few parts of the developed world which really is crying out for new, skilled workers.

Mr Pearson said the real danger to Western Australia, and the Australian economy more broadly, is that if jobs that are being created can’t be filled, then some projects will be delayed, some may not even go ahead and all of the knock-on effects that ripple through the economy will therefore be lost.

Industry groups estimate that 500,000 new jobs will be created in Western Australia in the coming decade as the mining boom accelerates. But there are concerns that more than 200,000 positions across a range of sectors in Western Australia will remain vacant unless skilled workers can be sourced from overseas.

Other industries that are reporting a skills deficit include Australian agriculture, with a severe lack of agronomists, vets and farm managers, through to harvesting machinery operators and shearers.

The National Farmers’ Federation estimate that Australia will need up to 100,000 additional workers over the next five years with the vast majority of jobs in the skilled or semi-skilled category as agriculture becomes more technologically advanced.

Via : The Visa Bureau

Phil Down Under returns – How to Apply for Phil Down Under

Mark — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:32:18 +0000

Phil Spencer from C4's Phil Down Under

We got contacted this week by IWC Media who are the makers of ‘Location Location
Location’ and ‘Relocation Relocation’.

The production company are looking to identify people who will be emigrating to Australia before the end of 2010 who may be seeking assistance finding a new property abroad.

I wrote an article about Relocation – Phil Down Under back in April as we were quite surprised to find that one of the properties found by Phil for one of the English couples was literally on our street!

Anyhow, if you’d like the assistance of Phil and the Channel 4 team in your search for a property down under and will be making the move to Australia before the end of the year then read on for details of how to apply for Phil own Under.

How to Apply for Phil Down Under?

Property guru Phil Spencer from C4’s ‘Location Location Location’ is taking his property finding and negotiating skills along with a large dose of English charm, down under. He’s heading to the other side of the world to help emigrating Brits find their perfect home in Australia.

In each episode, Phil will be helping one British couple navigate their way through the Australian property system. Phil will help find, survey and negotiate the deal on their dream pad. From harbour-side homes in Sydney and Beach pads in Byron Bay to Ranches in the Outback and Retreats in the Rainforest, no property search is too daunting for Phil.

For the return of this exciting series Channel 4 are on the hunt for people who are looking to emigrate to Australia before the end of 2010.

You must be available and able to buy in November/December 2010. You must also have secured approval from the FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board) without which you can’t buy property in Australia.

If you’ve got your papers and would like the help of a dedicated team who will assist you find the house of your dreams then follow this link http://www.meontv.co.uk/PhilDownUnder and fill in the application form.

Australia Needs More Engineers Says Survey

Mark — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:50:56 +0000

An annual engineering survey has warned that engineering skills shortages will affect the country’s ability to grow and limit innovation.

The Engineering Skills Survey by Consult Australia warns that Australia’s ability to design and deliver an estimated $400 billion in infrastructure over the next 10 years is under threat unless government and industry can work together to provide solutions to the skills shortages.

The survey found, three quarters of firms reported that they are experiencing critical shortages and the stagnation in the number of graduates over the last decade has contributed to the difficulty in finding workers to fill engineering jobs.

“The survey results show that a skills shortage of engineers definitely still exists in the consulting industry,” said Consult Australia CEO Megan Motto.

“Despite the downturn following the global financial crisis, the shortage is back just as strong as ever, demonstrating that the global shortage of engineers is a systemic problem.”

The engineering discipline most affected by the skills shortages is civil engineering, over two thirds of firms reported, which is particularly alarming in light of the infrastructure spending focus by Federal and State governments.

Environmental engineers are also in short supply according to about one third of firms, a significant concern with climate change response, sustainability and energy efficiency high on government priority lists.

Via: Visa Bureau

Migration Institute of Australia – Politicians must focus on Skilled Migration

Mark — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:44:06 +0000

The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) has called for politicians to focus on skilled migration issues during the election, rather than a “short-sighted” debate on asylum seekers.

The MIA has said that Australia’s migration program remains unbalanced, mismanaged and confusing for current and potential migrants, sponsors and for the general public.

The true migration issues that need to be dealt with are skills shortages and Australia’s reputation, but the Government and the Opposition are locked in an “absurd and short-sighted” contest about boat asylum seekers and who can have the smallest migration program, MIA CEO Maurene Horder said.

“The real issues facing Australian migration concern the skills and people we need for growth and prosperity, especially as our humanitarian intake represents a tiny fraction of the overall Migration Program,” Horder said.

In a press release statement released yesterday, the MIA said hundreds of thousands people in the immigration process or who want to emigrate to Australia have been negatively affected by the changes to Australian skilled migration program over the past six months, only to face an election campaign that threatens further cuts and besmirches the positive social and economic roles they play in communities across Australia.

Via: Visa Bureau

Immigration Needed To Keep Australia Competitive

Mark — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:11:41 +0000

A little while ago I wrote about the slightly worrying view from the new Australia PM Julia Gillard. A view which could highlight further potential cuts to Australian Immigration should she remain in power.

Reading the front page of ‘The Australian’ newspaper today however it would seem that the news for wannabe migrants could perhaps be a little more positive!

Two key government advisers and the nation’s leading demographer have warned that the nation’s “big Australia” debate has now entered dangerous territory and pressed the case for higher immigration to keep the economy strong.

Peter McDonald, head of the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, said yesterday the current political discourse linking high immigration rates to inflated house prices and congestion in the big cities risked a damaging reversion to Hansonism.

Professor McDonald was backed by former key government adviser and population economist Glenn Withers, who said the tone of the debate had “the potential for becoming dangerous”, while Infrastructure Australia head Rod Eddington said he was in favour of a “robust immigration program”.

Business leaders yesterday warned of the risks of any move to use population pressures as a reason to scale back on immigration numbers, saying they were crucial to future economic growth.

Sir Rod, appointed by the Labor government to chair Infrastructure Australia, said: “I’m broadly in favour of a robust ongoing immigration program given that the hunt for talent is a global hunt and we want as many good people as we can sensibly fit in.

“(Migration has) been one of the reasons why Australia has succeeded in the past. We shouldn’t turn a blind eye to that fact.”

The full article can be read at the following link: Let’s hope that this well informed advice is taken on board! I’m certainly seeing the struggle to source competent resources locally!

New Australia PM Flags Further Cuts To Immigration Quotas

Mark — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 03:14:30 +0000

Even more things for wannabe Aussie migrants to worry about as news reports today hint that Australias New Prime Minister Julia Gillard will be breaking from her predecessor’s advocacy of a “Big Australia” flagging further cuts to immigration quotas.

In an interview with the Australian version of the Daily Telegraph News paper, Gillard said:

“Australia shouldn’t hurtle down the track towards a big population… We need to stop, take a breath and develop policies for a sustainable Australia.”

Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd last week after he recorded sharp falls in opinion polls ahead of a parliamentary election later this year. Rudd had rejoiced in the headcount growing at a rate four times China’s and double that of the United States.

With immigration running at 300,000 a year, the projections are that the continent would be home to 36 million by 2050, up from 22 million now.

As immigration accounts for over half of population growth, Gillard would have to cut back on annual quotas to halt runaway growth.

She said migrants could still come in to fill skill shortages but that she did not “want areas of Australia with 25 per cent youth unemployment because there are no jobs.”

Opposition Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott said Gillard, who arrived in Australia with her British parents at the age of 4, had fallen in behind Rudd’s “Big Australia” dictum just two months ago.

Abbott said the new Labor leader was adjusting her pronouncements to what opinion polling showed was popular. “She’ll give the public what they want to hear without giving them the policy to deliver it,” he said.

For every migrants sake, let’s hope that’s the case!