Infrastructure Australia has waded into the explosive political debate over immigration, as Tony Abbott again defended his call to slash the intake in an opinion piece in the Australian. Infrastructure Australia warned in a new report that it was neither feasible nor desirable for the country to turn its back on the opportunities presented by population growth. In a report released on Friday, the independent statutory body lays out different options for how cities plan for, encourage and manage this growth. But it is warning failing to prepare for population growth will see cities including Sydney and Melbourne suffer from congestion and a lack of access to jobs, schools, parks and hospitals. Abbott this week called for Australia’s permanent migration intake to be slashed by 80,000 places a year to 110,000, a cut he did not make during his prime ministership. He blamed migrants for headaches including traffic jams, house prices and job vacancies. Senior Coalition colleagues, including past and present immigration ministers, the acting prime minister and the minister for trade, all criticised Abbott’s comments. But their public rebukes only encouraged the former PM to dig in deeper, insisting he never accepted Treasury “orthodoxy” that immigration was good for growth. In an opinion piece for the Australian on Friday, Abbott suggests critics of his calls for cuts to immigration have not read his speech. “One thing I am not going to cop is gratuitous criticism from ministers who are only in government because I led them there,” he writes. “It is the prime minister’s right to choose his ministerial team and, given some of the policies of this government, I’m happy to serve on the backbench.” Abbott writes that the government’s failure to differentiate its policies from Labor will see the Liberal party lose votes. “You’d think a government that’s lost the past 27 Newspolls might be curious about how it could lift its game,” Abbott wrote. “But no, ministers have gone out of their way to attack a colleague who knows more about winning elections than anyone in the parliament.” Australia’s population is expected to grow by 11.8 million people by 2046, which is equivalent to adding a new city roughly the size of Canberra each year for the next 30 years. Three-quarters of this growth is expected to occur in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. “A growing population is an exciting opportunity to increase our economic prosperity and livability. The potential benefits are immense,” Infrastructure Australia said in its report. Australia faces a complex set of choices about the future of cities, each requiring trade-offs and compromise. “But inaction is not an option, nor is business as usual,” the report warns. “If we fail to effectively anticipate and respond to growth, the likely results will be declining economic productivity, increasing environmental pressures and a marked reduction in each city’s quality of life.” The agency called on the federal government to establish consistent frameworks to drive infrastructure development, underpinned by better planning. Read More: theguardian
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Education Cost for 457 Visa Holders in South AustraliaFrom January 2017, as announced by the Government of the State of South Australia, temporary workers holding subclass 457 visa will be required to pay a contribution fee for enrolling their children in Government schools. This proposed change will be implemented to all subclass 457 visa holders from January 2018. While this change does not affect any visa conditions, sponsors of 457 visa and/or subclass 457 visa holders sponsored to work in South Australia, moving with dependents need to view this as an extra cost. The amount of contribution will be A$5,100 for primary school and A$6,100 for secondary (high) school. However, the contribution will be means-tested, so that the contribution may be waived if the gross family income does not exceed A$57,000. A lesser contribution will be applicable to those whose gross family income is below A$77,000 and this threshold rises by A$10,000 for each additional child with a 10% discount applied where multiple children will be attending schools. Introduction of the Entrepreneur VisaEntrepreneur Visa category has been introduced within Australia's Business Innovation and Investment Visa Program which allows foreign entrepreneurs within 55 years of age who intend to initiate a "complying entrepreneur activity" to seek an invitation to apply for the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa. These applicants must be competent with English language. The Subclass 188 visa will be a provisional visa issued for four (4) years and three (3) months, during which time the visa holder must maintain a relationship with their nominating State or Territory. Subclass 188 visa holders may gradually obtain permanent residence in Australia after residing in the country for at least 2 years, subject to the success of their venture as measured by turnover, job creation and ongoing financial backing. Foreign entrepreneurs looking to apply under this category will need to demonstrate funding of at least A$200,000 and have at least a 30% stake in the proposed venture and be nominated by a State or Territory Government. There are restrictions laid out towards the source of investment and there are exclusions for ventures involving residential real estate, labour hire or purchase of existing businesses. Proposed Taxation Reforms for Working Holiday VisasAs of January 1, 2017, the Australian Government will implement taxation reforms which will affect holders of Work and Holiday - Subclass 462, and Working Holiday - Subclass 417 visas and employers/sponsors of these visa holders. The taxation rate for these visa holders will be reduced and also the visa application charges will be reduced from A$440 to A$390. The rate of taxation will be reduced from 32.5% to 19% on the first A$37,000 of earnings. Employers of these visa holders will need to register themselves with the Australian Taxation Office and they will also be able to employ the visa holders in different regions of Australia for a total of twelve (12) months across the country, while still only being able to employ them for a maximum of six (6) months in a single location. To illustrate, under the current arrangements, the holder of one of these visas may only work for a single employer for a period of six (6) months in total and they would be in breach of their visa if they worked for the same employer in two (2) locations for a period of more than six (6) months in total. Under these changes they may work for up to six (6) months for the same employer in different regions. Article Source: mondaq Australia’s first diplomatic mission has officially opened in Doha, in what officials said is ushering in a new era of cooperation between the two countries. The embassy is located on the 21st floor of Tornado Tower in West Bay. It was inaugurated yesterday by Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Australian Ambassador to Qatar Axel Wabenhorst. Following the event, the Australian flag was raised next to the Qatari one outside of the building. The office is expected to serve some 5,500 Australian citizens currently residing and working in Qatar. According to its website, it does not process visa applications, as these must be done online. Open skiesAlso yesterday, Bishop and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani signed an open skies agreement. The deal will permit the countries to operate several passenger and cargo flights with “full traffic rights,” QNA reports. Qatar’s national carrier has been expanding rapidly into Australia, now flying to Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Growing tiesMeanwhile, the trade exchange between Qatar and Australia grew to QR3.7 billion last year, according to QNA. The value of Qatari exports to the nation is about QR1.4 billion, while imports are worth nearly QR2.3 billion, the news agency added. Agreements between the two countries involve trade, education, tourism and agriculture. Bishop said yesterday she hopes this is expanded to include tourism, hospitality and commodities. TimingsWabenhorst told Doha News that the embassy will officially be open starting this Sunday. It is still “training its staff on how to run things smoothly,” but Australians can visit for consular services, he added. Article Source: dohanews No changes to immigration laws planned.A hoax news site claiming Australia will soon be implementing visa-free arrangements for citizens of countries such as Fiji and the Philippines has been discredited by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). The hoax stories allege Australia entered into visa waiver agreements with Fiji, Oman, Pakistan and the Philippines, with visa-free travel set to commence from January 2017. In a statement shared on the DIBP website, international visitors were reminded Australia maintains a universal non-discriminatory visa regime and all non-citizens seeking entry must obtain a valid visa. Visas for travellers to Australia include visitor visas, electronic travel authority visas, eVisitor visas, transit and bridging visas, working holiday visas, investor retirement visas and study, training or research visas. There has been no change to Australia's visa arrangements and travellers are advised to continue to check the department's website for the latest information on immigration. While visa-free travel to Australia is impossible, anyone seeking information about immigrating to Canada may have just as tough a time after the country's immigration website crashed when media outlets began reporting Donald Trump's election night voter surge, which eventually furnished him the Presidency. A spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) said the department's website had failed as a result of a significant increase in the volume of traffic, though no further information about the source of the traffic was provided. The site has since been restored but is still experiencing technical difficulties. Many American actors and celebrities vowed to move to Canada, another country and even other planets if New York real estate mogul and reality-star Donald Trump became 45th President of the United States. Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston, film star Samuel L. Jackson, comedian Amy Schumer and singer/songwriter Cher all threatened to leave prior to Trump's victory. Will they follow through? Article Source: finder In Australia, post-study work arrangements are covered under the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485). It has two streams: the graduate work stream and the post-study work stream. The graduate work stream is the same as the Skilled Graduate visa (subclass 485). The post-study work stream offers extended options for working in Australia to eligible graduates with a higher education degree. Under this stream, successful applicants are granted a visa of two, three or four year duration, depending on the highest educational qualification they have obtained. If you intend to study in Australia, you will need to apply for the student visa (subclass 500). You can apply for the following types of study on this visa: English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students, school – primary or secondary, secondary school exchange programme; vocational education and training (VET) courses – a registered VET course or a registered course for the award of an advanced diploma; higher education courses – a bachelor or associate degree, a graduate certificate or graduate diploma; a master’s degree by coursework or a higher education diploma or advanced diploma; postgraduate research degrees – a master’s degree by research or a doctoral degree; non-award foundation studies courses or components of a course that do not lead to an award and students sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs or Trade or the Department of Defence. The New Zealand government, in 2013, introduced a package of initiatives to encourage growth in New Zealand’s international education sector. Under these, eligible students are allowed to work during all their scheduled course breaks (rather than just summer), and doctoral and research master’s students are able to work full-time. Working while studying allows students to gain invaluable industry experience before they graduate, preparing them for the job market. Eligible international students have the opportunity to apply for a 12-month job search visa after completing their course in New Zealand (applicable for certain level of courses only) and get some international work experience. There are other important benefits to people studying for a PhD in New Zealand. International students pay domestic fees rather than international fees. Their spouse or partner is eligible for an open work permit valid for the duration of the PhD. Dependent children of an international PhD student receive the same schooling benefits as New Zealand permanent residents until their final year of high school, and no tuition fees are charged in New Zealand’s state schools. Article Soource: hindustantimes |