Australia Slashes Immigration as Recession Looms
The Star (Malaysia), March 17, 2009
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/17/business/3491077&sec=business
Australia will cut immigration for the first time in a decade, with recession looming and unemployment rising sharply, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said yesterday.
Were going to cut it from 133,500 to 115,000, so thats about a 14% cut, Evans told state radio. We dont want people coming in who are going to compete with Australians for limited jobs.
Australias jobless rate spiked to 5.2% from 4.8% last month with the biggest impact felt by full-time workers. The centre-left government expects unemployment to reach 7% by mid-2010, although some economists fear it could go as high as 10%.
Evans, who removed hairdressers and cooks off Australias critical occupation shortage list at Christmas, said he was now adding foreign bricklayers, plumbers, carpenters and electricians from the list that guides skilled migration intake.
Further cuts were likely in the May 12 budget, local media said, leaving only health occupations, engineering and information technology skills as needed skills.
Australia is a nation of immigrants and has been enjoying a boom in new arrivals for the past decade to help meet labour shortages as a China-fuelled mining boom drove unemployment rates to 30-year lows.
But six of Australias major trading partners are now in recession and economic growth has stalled. The country moved a step closer to recession this month with the first contraction in eight years and the economy shrinking by 0.5%. Reuters
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Australia Cuts Quota for Migrant Workers
The Economic Times, March 17, 2009
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Services/Australia-cuts-quota-for-migrant-workers-/articleshow/4274798.cms
Australia will cut its intake of migrants for the first time in a decade, the government said on Monday, amid concern that skilled
foreign workers could stoke resentment by taking jobs at a time of rising unemployment.
The Kevin Rudd government has said it will close the gate to about 18,500 foreign workers this year in a bid to safeguard local building and manufacturing jobs. With a recession looming and the centre-left government expecting unemployment to reach 7% by mid-2010 , immigration minister Chris Evans said the intake of skilled migrants would be reduced by about 14%.
Skilled workers such as doctors and nurses in industries, where acute shortages exist, will be unaffected by the new measures. However, the building and manufacturing trades will be removed from Australias critical skills list, protecting local bricklayers, plumbers, welders, carpenters and metal fitters.
The list will now comprise mainly health and medical, engineering and IT workers. The government will reduce the planned record intake of 133,500 workers in 2008-09 to 115,000. Australia goes to polls in 2010 and immigration has been a charged issue in the past, particularly after the downturn.
Australia is a nation of immigrants and has been enjoying a boom in new arrivals for the past decade to help meet labour shortages as a China-fuelled mining boom drove unemployment rates to 30-year lows.
In December, it was announced that only those migrants sponsored by an employer or in an occupation on the critical skills list would be granted visas under the permanent skilled migration program.
