Sunday, August 19, 2007

Australian Immigration

Australia is hoping to attract British people to migrate there.

At least once a year Australia organises a huge exhibition in Dublin to attract more people to go over there. They also offer working visas to Irish youngsters for a year or two.

Question: do they go to the same lengths to attract Indonesian people to work in Australia? if not, why not?

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

i dont think so. 1st, we dont speak English. 2nd, we are full of terrorists ;)

Unknown said...

i don't buy that, most irish don't speak (intelligible) english either, and we're also full of terrorists .

(irish and indonesians have soooo much in common!)

David said...

Possibly for the same reasons they don't target most other countries either - I don't know what they are, but I don't think they're singling out Indonesia as a country to be excluded.

One reason I think is to try and balance the Brain Drain Australia is (perceived to be) experiencing where highly skilled professionals leave to much more lucrative deals in Britain and the US.

David said...

According to this document -

http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/pdf/
Update_Dec06.pdf

(you'll have to cut n paste a bit to get the url to work)

the largest increase in settlement (ie, permanent migration to Aust.) between July 2006 and Dec 2006 was from South Asia, Oceania, and Southeast Asia.

Notice also that the two lowest settlement contributors belong to North America and South/Central America.

Europe incl. the UK is the largest.

Just to add a bit of perspective.

Anonymous said...

I thought the Irish migration has been concentrated in US for centuries.
Anyway despite the UK people are a bit reluctant to share their social welfare with the Irish migrants (the fact, rite?), the Aussies are quite okay to do that with consideration to balance the society from other non-anglo migrants.

Unknown said...

David, thanks for the link! I don't think they're singling out Indonesia either, but I wonder why they seem to single out Britain and Ireland and ignore so many other places?

I've even heard radio adverts, promoting Australia as /the/ place to migrate! Maybe adverts and exhibitions aren't necessary to attract Indonesians & SE Asians, I dunno.

Anyways, I think it's good that Australia promotes immigration (unlike many European countries!). The more freedom of movement the better, as far as I am concerned.


Anymatters, most EU citizens can work and claim benefits just like a home country's residents can. The EU ensures that no one is discriminated against (altho some countries are allowed to discriminate against unfortunate poor newcomers).

Irish immigrants went to the UK, US and Australia in pretty much equally huge numbers.

I hope there isn't a policy to "balance out" non-anglo migrants (btw the Irish are also non-anglo, they're Celtic!! :):):)) I reckon the Celts are closer to the Madurese than Anglo-Saxons :):)

David said...

HI John, who said:

"but I wonder why they seem to single out Britain and Ireland and ignore so many other places?"

Economic strategising perhaps. England and Ireland (Scotland also, I see is included in latest targeting) are still culturally closest to white Australia, are the most likely to pass English language tests and are also perceived to have high quality tertiary education. Just a stab in the dark.

Perhaps there is also a hidden agenda to secretly appease the 'just-below-the-surface mass' of Pauline Hanson supporters who would like to see Australia return to the days of the White Australia Policy. But that's just unfounded speculation.

oigal said...

Hi John,

There are a number of myths about OZ immigration (and visas for that matter). The biggest issue is the education system in Indonesia, to be brutally honest who would put any value on a degree issued in Indonesia. However if you can get beyond that and prove your credentials as a skilled immigrant you are welcomed with open arms.

There is actually a very large 457 visa issue going on right now to get unskilled labour into oz as well.

BTW, Tourist visa's are just as easy as long as you meet some fairly basic requirements, such as having funds to support yourself and return.

I think you can safely rule out the ol Pauline Hanson chestnut, the figures just don't support the argument. Although there is (or going to be) an english language test..which is reasonable seeing how it is an english speaking country.

An interesting test of fairness, is to compare immigration figures and award of citizenship to immigrants OZ vs others. Want to waste a few days of your life, see what it takes to become a citizen in Malaysia, Indonesia etc..

Bit of waffle, in the end its all about spending money on education..

spew-it-all said...

I am not quite sure if this is to appease Pauline Hanson's supporters. How influential is she in her contribution to Australian Tourist Industry?

Who organise the exhibition? Is it from the embassy?

Does it have a relation to being commonwealth country?

Unknown said...

Oigal, yeh, with the amount of corruption in Indonesia, I suppose it's hard for outsiders to be sure of qualifications etc...

David, the way I see it, only Brits interested in sun and surf would seriously consider Australia (even then I suspect they'd repatriate more often than other types of immigrants). Smart, career driven types are likely to stay (with their Aussie expat buddies) in London.

I imagine Australia would have a better pick of v capable applicants if they looked /harder/ for people in Indonesia etc, instead of Britain and Ireland...

Citu, I imagine the Australian govt organises the exhibitions. Also, Ireland isn't in the Commonwealth!! :P

David said...

John,

I agree. I'm speaking from the point of view of the Immigration Department who 'may' perceive Brits as being 'better' educated.

The Pauline Hanson point was just a tongue-in-cheek jab at the fact that the Howard Government seems to have a habit of taking on board simplistic Hansonist ideas in it's own policy making.

spew-it-all said...

David,
That makes sense then. Howard's govt seems to have similar view to Hanson in some respect. His idea on history is a typical example.

If education matters most then why don't they promote it to american and canadian? They also predominantly have anglo-saxon background and education in both countries are one of the best in the world

oigal said...

I really think this Howard anglo-saxon bias is a bit of a myth. Again the figures don't back it up. For instance Indian Migration has doubled under the Howard Government (BTW not Howard supporter but think the "others" have lot to answer for in no alternative for ten years..useless bastards).

The reality is not colour or race but Langauge and skills.. If you have a skill and can speak English..its a walk up not a matter where you are from.

If Indonesia does not want to invest in education there is no point blaming others if she is continued to be viewed as a major exporter of domestic servants.

As an employer in this country, its frustrating as all get out and the levels of education..training is nigh on impossible (but we continue to try) as the base point is so very low. Interestingly enough the moment a particular Indonesian shows distinct promise we help him get employment overseas as there is little chance for advancement here unless he/she has the "connections"

Unknown said...

hey david,

i think i got the tongue in cheekness of ur comment... -- these days i'm kinda busy and just tap away at my keyboard without much care or thought :) so don't pay too much attention to my tappings!

David said...

John said:

"these days i'm kinda busy and just tap away at my keyboard without much care or thought :)"

haha..you and me both. Exam marking coming out of my ears and now the 'dreaded lurgy', to quote The Goons, due to lack of sleep!!! Yeehaaaa...

LavanyaLea said...

i just found this blog, highly amusing!

-> indonesians and irish indeed have so much in common: we don't speak english and are full of terrorists, LOL!!!!!!

australia shouldn't worry about lack of workforce, with the uk closing its doors to international doctors (highly racist law btw), all the indian n pakistani doctors would make their exodus to oz!

Unknown said...

"australia shouldn't worry about lack of workforce, with the uk closing its doors to international doctors (highly racist law btw), all the indian n pakistani doctors would make their exodus to oz!"

yeh that's v true!

don't get me started on european immigration, the EU is the worst imo...

thx for visiting!

Anonymous said...

At first, I'm in the same line with Oigal

Oigal said:
"The reality is not colour or race but Langauge and skills.. If you have a skill and can speak English.."

Though a bit swayed when you said:

"i don't buy that, most irish don't speak (intelligible) english either, and we're also full of terrorists "

I know that Australia is struggling to find skilled people at the moment (trying to meet China's appetite in Australian resources, and it's own economic growth due to this), but a wee bit surprised that they go to such great length by advertising to get people migrating to Oz.

Why there? I guess it's more practical reason than anything else:
1. The relationship is better with this country (you'll go to somewhere you know, won't you?),
2. and yes, english speaking (intelligible or not, another topic ;)), not so much cultural difference (is Australian government also advertise in India? Not that I know of ;) )

Though I've heard lots of private Oz companies trying to recruit labourers from SE-Asia as well, as it is that desparate. Yeah, their english is pretty bad, but they work, and work, and work, and get paid only a fraction to what Australian work force is (I saw it with my own 2-eye). They (still) appreciate the little comforts of life that they surely don't have in their home-country.

Selva said...

All I want to do is go for three weeks to visit my brother in American visa. I know you really hate illegal immigrants and all - although I can't think why since you incarcerate them all in detention camps and keep them safely out of sight. This much paperwork could take me a lifetime to put together. Maybe I should take my tourist dollars somewhere else where it’s far more exciting and probably easier to get in - like Australia or Iraq.

Unknown said...

me, i am a fan of immigration! i wish u also the best selva :)