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Immigration Policies And The Australian Federal Government Election 2010

The Housing Industry Association of Australia approached all major political parties and asked the hard questions regarding critical policy issues. Find out about Immigration Policy…

What is the policy position taken by each major party including the Australian Labor Party, The Liberal National Coalition and The Greens.

Immigration 

What do you consider to be an appropriate level of immigration to meet Australia’s short, medium and long term challenges? 

Labor -

The Gillard Labor Government believes in a sustainable Australia, not a ‘big Australia’.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has indicated her vision for a sustainable population – one that supports our environment and our renewable resources and that is in turn supported by proper resources and infrastructure.

We need to stop, take a breath, and develop policies for a sustainable and strong Australia.

We need to be smart about how we plan for the future to make sure we have the resources to support a fairer, stronger, smarter Australia.

We need to make sure our population grows in areas where demand for work is increasing so hard working Australians can benefit from our strong and growing economy.

But we also want to avoid overcrowding in the cities and in parts of our country where there aren’t sufficient jobs or services.

To ensure that immigration levels are appropriate, the development of a long-term sustainable migration planning framework is underway. This framework will provide policy guidelines for setting our future immigration levels in Australia’s best interests.

Coalition -

The Coalition wants an honest debate on immigration. The Labor government is addicted to dissembling, spin and deliberate obfuscation.

The Coalition will reduce Australia’s annual rate of population growth from more than 2 percent under Labor, to our historical long-run average of 1.4 percent within our first term. This will require reducing our annual rate of net overseas migration from 298,924 in 2008/09 to no more than 170,000 per year by the end of our first term.

We will also ensure that two thirds of our permanent migration intake will be for skilled migration. At the same time we will continue to work on the infrastructure, water and cities solutions that increase our capacity to ease the pressure on quality of life.

This is a clear policy that can give confidence to communities groaning under the weight of populating growth that we will ease the pressure. Julia Gillard’s recent admission that immigration will remain untouched by Labor proves her claims about sustainable population growth are just hollow words.

Under Labor, population growth has risen to more than 2 percent, one of the highest in the developed world. With net migration peaking at 300,000 per year, more than double our long run average.

Greens -  Yes

Do you support an immigration program that is more responsive in overcoming skill shortages in the residential building industry?

Labor –

The Gillard Labor Government has made a number of changes to the skilled migration program. These changes are designed to ensure that the program is more responsive to the needs of industry and employers, and better addresses the nation’s future skill needs.

The changes included the introduction of a new and more targeted Skilled Occupations List in the middle of 2010. The Skilled Occupations List was developed by Skills Australia, an independent body which undertook analysis of the medium to long term skill needs of Australia.

Only people with relevant qualifications in occupations listed on the Skilled Occupations List will be eligible for independent general skilled migration. The list includes a number of occupations relevant to the building industry including project builders, architects, surveyors, engineers, bricklayers, carpenters, plasters, electricians, tilers and plumbers.

Coalition –

We will also ensure that two thirds of our permanent migration intake will be for skilled migration. At the same time we will continue to work on the infrastructure, water and cities solutions that increase our capacity to ease the pressure on quality of life.

Greens –

The Greens recognise the need to increase workforce capacity in a range of industries, including construction and are keen to further discuss appropriate measures with relevant stakeholders.

Source: HIA Media Release

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