Among the first few dramatic decisions taken by Australia’s first woman prime minister Julia Gillard was to redesignate the ‘Minister of Population’ as ‘Minister of Sustainable Population’. Soon the guessing game began. Does this change in name indicate less tolerance towards illegal boat people arriving in Australia, or generally aims to reduce the number of Asian people arriving here to make this country their home?
The ruling Labour Party dethroned the once popular prime minister Kevin Rudd last month as his dream of a “big Australia” seemingly raised doubts among a section of the party about this policy’s electoral benefits in the forthcoming general elections. Julia Gillard has already indicated tough stand against boat people. See here…
Prime Minister Gillard said sustainable growth should be the policy priority, as opposed to just letting the country “hurtle” towards a population of 36 million or 40 million, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
“I don’t believe in a big Australia,” she told the Nine Network. “Kevin Rudd indicated that he had a view about a big Australia. I’m indicating a different approach. I think we want an Australia that is sustainable.”
However, she conceded there were also parts of Australia desperate for more people to fill skills shortages. “We’ve got to get the balance right,” Ms Gillard said. “We’ll still have an approach about getting the migration settings right, about meeting our needs for skilled labour.”
Writing in the Newsweek, one author says: “While women now form almost a third of the federal Parliament in Australia, compared to the U.S., where women hold only 16.8 percent of the seats in Congress, we have a mottled history of hyping, then savaging, women who are touted as potential leaders of national parties…
“Gillard, 48, the daughter of a coal miner and a former industrial-relations lawyer, has a pragmatic approach to politics and a record of fighting for better conditions for workers, and for greater numbers of women in Parliament. She is well respected and hails from the left of her party.
“Her style is candid and unapologetic, and while she has played the political game carefully, she has remained defiantly herself. This is her greatest appeal. When a national discussion about her lack of cooking ability was sparked by a shot of an empty fruit bowl in her kitchen, she confessed she had never been a domestic creature. When a liberal senator who is affronted by the fact that she has no children called her ‘deliberately barren,’ she shrugged him off as a ‘man of the past’.”
In India, the media coverage about changes in Australian education/immigration policy created some panic. The Australian High Commission issued a clarification to end the fevered speculation, especially as a large number of Indian students are attending colleges and vocational institutes in Australia.
The key points in the press release on ‘Australia’s Skilled Migration program’ are:
• Australia has altered its skilled migration policy, not its student visa policy
• No students are going to be sent home in July
• On the contrary all will be allowed to complete their courses after which they can apply for an additional 18 months stay during which they can work and seek employer sponsorship to remain in Australia
• There is no plan for ‘visa capping’ on student visas
• The changes apply to all applications from all countries. They are not targeted at India, nor are they triggered by the problems of the last year over attacks on Indian students
• The changes are not retrospective – they apply only from 1 July 2010
• Australia has in place very generous transition measures
• Australia is open to skilled migration that meets its labour market needs
The press release continues: “In response to recent media reports on changes to Australia’s skilled migration program, the High Commission would like to clarify the following points. First we are making changes to Australia’s skilled migration program, not our student visa program.
“The changes to our skilled migration program, announced on 8 February 2010, reflect the evolving needs of the Australian labour market. We are committed to a skilled migration program that is targeted at the needs of the Australian labour market. Our goal is to ensure the Australian economy remains strong and efficient. These specific labour market needs are determined by an independent statutory authority – Skills Australia.
“Second, the changes we are making to our skilled migration program are global changes. They are not targeted at India or any other country. They were not triggered by the problems of the last year over attacks on Indian students.
“Third, the changes are not retrospective and will apply only from 1 July 2010.
“Fourth, no students from any country will be sent home on 1 July. Such reports confuse two different categories of visa. The skilled migration visa is completely separate to the student visa. No student, whether from India or elsewhere, currently studying in Australia is going to be asked to cease their course because of changes to our skilled migration program. They will be allowed to complete their studies. Many have visas that enable them to study courses for several years.
“But it is important to remember that student visas allow people to come to Australia on a temporary basis for a specified period to undertake study at an Australian educational institution. There is no guarantee of migration just because someone holds a student visa. Any suggestion to the contrary is a misrepresentation of Australia’s clearly stated policy.
Fifth, the Australian Government has provided generous transition arrangements to ensure those international students who were in Australia when the changes were announced on 8 February 2010 have every opportunity to fulfil their objectives. If their objective is to complete their studies, they will be free to do so. If their objective is to shift to another course of study, they will be free to do so subject to meeting the entry requirements. If their objective is to stay in Australia to work after the completion of their studies, they can apply for a Temporary Skilled Graduate visa under the old arrangements, which will give them 18 months with full work rights. They can use this time to find an employer-sponsor, find a state-government sponsor, gain a new skill or get work experience. These are very generous transition arrangements by any measure.
“These transition arrangements apply until the end of 2012 and extend to all people who held student visas at the date of the announcement (8 February 2010). These arrangements provide students with both the time and the opportunity to explore their options in the Australian labour market before making a decision on their future.
“Those who are able to demonstrate that they can meet Australia’s skills needs as articulated in the requirements for a permanent skilled visa will still have the opportunity to achieve permanent residence. . The success of an individual applicant will depend on whether they meet the requirements for a visa that exist at the time they make an application.
“Some media outlets have raised concerns about ‘visa capping’. These concerns relate to a Bill that is currently before the Australian Parliament. The amendments proposed in this Bill have been designed to manage the skilled migration program and ensure it meets the labour market needs of the Australian economy as flexibly as possible. There are no plans to apply this power to the student visa program. It is worth noting that the power to cap visa applications has existed for some years – the Bill that is before the Parliament seeks to provide greater precision and flexibility in the way in which the power can be applied.”
More information on the changes to the Australian skilled migration program can be found at:
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/faq-gsmchanges.pdf
Meanwhile see here what Ian Young, vice-chancellor, Swinburne University of Technology, wrote in The Australian early this year about violence involving foreign students.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.