In the week of the Albanese government’s job summit, the immigration department again sent out a raft of letters to bridging visa holders in Queensland advising them it was time to reapply to rollover their permission to stay in Australia. While politicians and sector representatives debated whether we needed skilled and unskilled migrants to tackle the workforce shortfall, a substantial group remain in the country in limbo and barely tapped. (more…)
Category: Immigration
-
Impact of increasing the permanent skilled migration intake
Businesses are crying out for more workers. But boosting permanent migration won’t fix their problem. Here’s why. (more…)
-
International accountability: Myanmar, the ICJ and the genocide question
The indomitable spirit of Raphael Lemkin, bibliophile, assiduous documenter of humanity’s dark deeds and inexecrable conduct, is bound to be an unsettled one. (more…)
-
The inexcusable “Immigration Refugee Determination” assessment system requires a deep clean
The stories of ‘invisible’ refugees who had entered Australia by plane on valid visas seeking protection from their persecutors and encountered even more unspeakably harsh oppression in this country cast a blot on our culture. (more…)
-
Peter Hughes: Albanese is right to give New Zealanders a fairer go
The new directions that Prime Minister Albanese has foreshadowed to make life easier for New Zealanders in Australia in relation to citizenship, deportation and voting are the right way to go. (more…)
-
Once were mates or a relationship reset?
Prime Ministerial visits from New Zealand usually pass unnoticed but not this one. (more…)
-
Asylum seekers in Indonesia-alive, but not living
In one of its nastier theological fabrications seemingly driven by schadenfreude, the Catholic Church invented purgatory – heaven’s waiting room where sins were cleansed oftentimes by fire. The medieval idea has been largely smothered by modern church teachings more in line with Christ’s compassion, but the worldly equivalent thrives next door through Australian indifference. (more…)
-
Partner visas – another Dutton scandal
Under Dutton, the Department of Home Affairs just ignored the law. (more…)
-
Tripartite bargain on Immigration Policy
Given current skill shortages and how gummed up the visa processing system has become, the new Government will need a focussed strategy on what needs to be fixed first. (more…)
-
Morrison Government’s high risk visa switch for migrant meatworkers
We are on a very slippery slope with these visas towards the slavery-like conditions that have existed for migrant workers in North America and Europe for decades. (more…)
-
Fixing Immigration: five things an incoming Labor government could do
Labor, if elected, has a big job ahead of it in fixing the immigration shambles that the Coalition has created in nearly 9 years of office. (more…)
-
The repeated lie that Morrison stopped the boats. An updated repost from March 11, 2021
Our corporate media will not acknowledge that Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison did not stop the boats. Despite clear evidence, the Canberra Press Gallery fell for the spin. With a tame media and cooperation by the military, the big lie was repeated time and time again and became accepted as fact. This was all before Donald Trump and his big lies. (more…)
-
Kenny Stancil: Copycat Cruelty – The Australian solution – Britain to send refugees to Rwanda
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s move to deport asylum-seekers to another country thousands of miles away will “only lead to more human suffering, chaos, and at huge expense to the U.K.,” said one refugee advocate
(more…) -
The cry of refugees
The Coalition remains committed to detaining asylum seekers in Australia if they have arrived by boat without a visa. The Labor Party has not made any commitment to cease such detention.
-
Home affairs misleads Senate on Djokovic case
The responses Home Affairs officials recently gave to Senate Estimates on the Department’s handling of the Novak Djokovic case were a mixture of smoke and mirrors overlaid by outright misinformation. (more…)
-
A refugee deal with NZ after nine years of cruelty
The sickening cynicism of the Morrison government is never far from view. (more…) -
How many refugees will drown at Bhasan Char in Bangladesh?
Over 20,000 Rohingya refugees have been recently moved to Bhasan Char, and are at risk of drowning. (more…)
-
Smoke and mirrors: Afghans neglected in Australia’s humanitarian program
Far from holding out a helping hand to Afghans left stranded by the withdrawal of foreign troops, Australia has been even less generous than normal.
-
Long-term immigration detention has again become a pointless exercise in cruelty
The Howard government released long-term detainees into the community, but the current Coalition government refuses to do so for political reasons. (more…)
-
The torture of asylum seekers has twisted our perceptions of right and wrong
A whistleblower on the horrors of Manus Island laments the passing of an Australia that was welcoming, kind and caring.
-
Djokovic case highlights need for change in how we check vaccination status
With international travel ramping up, changes to passenger visa checks should already be in place — and could’ve prevented the Djokovic debacle.
-
Don’t tangle with Border Force? Lessons from the Djokovic mess
Only the wealthy stand a chance of overturning the arbitrary rulings of Border Force officials. Ordinary detainees and their visitors stand no chance. (more…)
-
Save the Kabul Peace House, save the people of Afghanistan
Australia has allocated 3000 places for Afghan refugees. In October, the number of applicants exceeded 100,000. So far no Afghans have been resettled.
(more…) -
What a shambles: a tangled net for Scott Morrison and Novak Djokovic
The debacle surrounding the tennis ace is good media fodder. Chiefly, it shows that Morrison’s right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.
(more…) -
Whether running immigration or being PM, Morrison fiddles the books
Using income tax receipts to offset departmental spending undermines good government. But that doesn’t faze this government. (more…)
-
Australia’s incoherent visa system needs urgent repair
Strong jobs growth will hinge on high levels of net migration, so the next government must act to streamline the system and fine-tune the settings.
-
Jailed Danish politician exemplifies growing anti-refugee populism
Denmark’s former immigration minister has been jailed for separating refugee couples — but her actions did not lack parliamentary approval.
-
The West helped create the conditions that force asylum seekers to cross the Channel
Economic sanctions on Middle Eastern countries targets civilians and turns them into refugees — and they head for Europe, not the US.
-
Our migration program: many questions with no answers
Consultations with the public on immigration have been rendered meaningless, and Home Affairs appears unable to provide any detail on its plans.
-
A bitter fruit: wage slavery is alive and well in Australian heartland
In a regional city, an army of undocumented workers toil for dishonest labour-hire firms while the government turns a blind eye. Barbara Kelly explains.
(more…)