ASIA
26 March 2014
Australia's migration muddles
Australia has one of the world's most successful experiences of immigration. In an act of political desperation, Australia's Julia Gillard is undermining this.
Australia has one of the world's most successful immigration histories. In an act of political desperation, Australia's Julia Gillard is undermining this.
"We will support your job and put Aussie workers first". We will "stop foreign workers being put at the front of the queue with Australian workers at the back". With these words of fire, Australia's politically desperate Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, launched an attack on one arm of Australia's immigration program.
Australia's government issues "457-visas" to immigrants to fill short-term temporary labor shortages where there aren't Australian workers to fill the positions. While Gillard supports the 457-visa program, she claims that businesses are gaming the system to bring in cheap foreign labor, and take jobs from Australian workers.
Gillard's comments provoked many reactions from the business community, political commentators, and even her fellow members of Australia's Labor Government. Obviously businessmen defended their use of the 457-visa scheme. Others claimed that Gillard was damaging Australia's reputation in the Asian Century and the government's credentials with the business sector. Gillard's government has placed the Asian Century at the heart of the government's overall strategy, and most of the 457-visa immigrants are Asian.
It subsequently came to light that there has been a curiously dramatic rise in the use of 457-visas, and that there may well be some abuse of the system. But the reality is that the 457-visa program only accounts for only 0.7 per cent of the Australian labor force, and more than 80 per cent of employer-sponsored permanent skilled visas are granted to people already in Australia.
What are Gillard's motivations in attacking on the 457-visa program? Why all the fuss over a small number of abuses to a tiny immigration program?
Gillard is a prime minister who is deeply unpopular with the Australian public and even her own political party, and she faces a national election in September this year. Her days at the helm of the lucky country appear numbered, with support growing to push her out in favor of Kevin Rudd, the prime minister that she deposed a few years ago in an internal party coup. So stirring the migration pot is a tempting tactic to try to shore up popularity with her trade union base, and perhaps divert attention from her government's badly managed refugee policies.
The folly of playing the xenophobia card was highlighted by the unwelcome support she received from former anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson.
Through her actions, Gillard has failed one of the basic tests of responsible leadership and government. Governments of all persuasion should promote a positive, tolerant and inclusive public discussion on immigration, and not stoke up anti-immigrant sentiments which can be just under the surface in any country at times of economic difficulty.
Fortunately Australia does have many voices of wisdom on migration, and Kevin Rudd is perhaps one of the best.
"Successive generations of migrants from all corners of the world have made Australia much stronger and richer than we would otherwise have been", Rudd recently argued in a speech on population, participation and productivity. Without the post-war immigration boom, Australia's population might be stagnating at around 8 million, one-third of its current level, and Australia would be a long way from being the 12th largest economy in the world that it is today.
Rudd also praised Australia's "multicultural reality" in another recent speech to the Crescent Institute. "Multiculturalism is strong ... it's one of our core national assets and strengths", he said.
Rudd wisely acknowledged to his Muslim audience the prejudice that immigrants can suffer, but offered the following words of comfort:
"When the Irish first came here, the English despised them ... After the Irish became acceptable and the Italians and Greeks came, the Irish despised them. When the Greeks and Italians became established and then others came from South-East Asia and East Asia, they in turn began to despise them. And then our Muslim brothers and sisters have come from across the Muslim world and so too has the experience not been dissimilar".
In this speech, Rudd highlighted one of the great benefits of continued immigration to a prosperous and "comfortable" country like Australia. Immigrants bring "new ideas and new approaches and new levels of energy with which to approach the task of building a nation and building an economy and strengthening the fabric of our local societies". "... our multicultural reality ... gives us dynamism and creativity". Thus Australia's unique creative output can contribute "something new and fresh to the world".
Australia's Kevin Rudd may have one of the best policy minds of his generation. It is a great pity that he did not have the political or managerial skills to succeed as prime minister.
Today, the world needs minds like this to help us live together peacefully, prosperously and creatively in our increasingly multicultural societies.
Executive Director
Asian Century Institute
www.asiancenturyinstitute.com
"We will support your job and put Aussie workers first". We will "stop foreign workers being put at the front of the queue with Australian workers at the back". With these words of fire, Australia's politically desperate Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, launched an attack on one arm of Australia's immigration program.
Australia's government issues "457-visas" to immigrants to fill short-term temporary labor shortages where there aren't Australian workers to fill the positions. While Gillard supports the 457-visa program, she claims that businesses are gaming the system to bring in cheap foreign labor, and take jobs from Australian workers.
Gillard's comments provoked many reactions from the business community, political commentators, and even her fellow members of Australia's Labor Government. Obviously businessmen defended their use of the 457-visa scheme. Others claimed that Gillard was damaging Australia's reputation in the Asian Century and the government's credentials with the business sector. Gillard's government has placed the Asian Century at the heart of the government's overall strategy, and most of the 457-visa immigrants are Asian.
It subsequently came to light that there has been a curiously dramatic rise in the use of 457-visas, and that there may well be some abuse of the system. But the reality is that the 457-visa program only accounts for only 0.7 per cent of the Australian labor force, and more than 80 per cent of employer-sponsored permanent skilled visas are granted to people already in Australia.
What are Gillard's motivations in attacking on the 457-visa program? Why all the fuss over a small number of abuses to a tiny immigration program?
Gillard is a prime minister who is deeply unpopular with the Australian public and even her own political party, and she faces a national election in September this year. Her days at the helm of the lucky country appear numbered, with support growing to push her out in favor of Kevin Rudd, the prime minister that she deposed a few years ago in an internal party coup. So stirring the migration pot is a tempting tactic to try to shore up popularity with her trade union base, and perhaps divert attention from her government's badly managed refugee policies.
The folly of playing the xenophobia card was highlighted by the unwelcome support she received from former anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson.
Through her actions, Gillard has failed one of the basic tests of responsible leadership and government. Governments of all persuasion should promote a positive, tolerant and inclusive public discussion on immigration, and not stoke up anti-immigrant sentiments which can be just under the surface in any country at times of economic difficulty.
Fortunately Australia does have many voices of wisdom on migration, and Kevin Rudd is perhaps one of the best.
"Successive generations of migrants from all corners of the world have made Australia much stronger and richer than we would otherwise have been", Rudd recently argued in a speech on population, participation and productivity. Without the post-war immigration boom, Australia's population might be stagnating at around 8 million, one-third of its current level, and Australia would be a long way from being the 12th largest economy in the world that it is today.
Rudd also praised Australia's "multicultural reality" in another recent speech to the Crescent Institute. "Multiculturalism is strong ... it's one of our core national assets and strengths", he said.
Rudd wisely acknowledged to his Muslim audience the prejudice that immigrants can suffer, but offered the following words of comfort:
"When the Irish first came here, the English despised them ... After the Irish became acceptable and the Italians and Greeks came, the Irish despised them. When the Greeks and Italians became established and then others came from South-East Asia and East Asia, they in turn began to despise them. And then our Muslim brothers and sisters have come from across the Muslim world and so too has the experience not been dissimilar".
In this speech, Rudd highlighted one of the great benefits of continued immigration to a prosperous and "comfortable" country like Australia. Immigrants bring "new ideas and new approaches and new levels of energy with which to approach the task of building a nation and building an economy and strengthening the fabric of our local societies". "... our multicultural reality ... gives us dynamism and creativity". Thus Australia's unique creative output can contribute "something new and fresh to the world".
Australia's Kevin Rudd may have one of the best policy minds of his generation. It is a great pity that he did not have the political or managerial skills to succeed as prime minister.
Today, the world needs minds like this to help us live together peacefully, prosperously and creatively in our increasingly multicultural societies.
Author
John WestExecutive Director
Asian Century Institute
www.asiancenturyinstitute.com