Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

The government will be opposing Senator Bartlett’s disallowance motion. As Senator Bartlett indicated, items 41 and 72 of schedule 1 of the Migration Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 7) have the effect of closing the skilled, Australian-sponsored visa, subclass 138. This visa has been replaced by the skilled, sponsored migrant visa, subclass 176, during a process of visa rationalisation. This visa has a greater emphasis on the skills in demand in Australia and on English requirements to meet Australia’s skills needs.

Schedule 2, items 7 and 8, has the effect of removing the assurance of support for the subclass 138 visa. In consultation with Centrelink, it was decided to remove the assurance of support for the subclass 138 visa. It was a mandatory requirement but, as the visa applicants need to be skilled, it was decided that an assurance of support was not necessary and indeed had the effect of limiting the number of applicants for this visa category.

Senator Bartlett and Senator Ludwig have spoken more generally about immigration policy. The government believes in strong immigration management for a prosperous and a cohesive nation. The government’s migration program is keeping our economy strong by keeping pace with the demand for skilled labour while ensuring we have a cohesive and integrated community. The government has increased the English language level required for all skilled migrants. A minimum of year 10 equivalent English, ranging up to university level English, is now required across all skilled visa categories and priority is given to those with the highest level of English.

In general, in relation to Australia’s annual migration program there is now a focus on entrants who can contribute. Australia has an ageing population and, of course, a growing economy. The Howard government believes that it is essential that new migrants bring skills to contribute to the workforce and a commitment to integrate into Australia’s community. Our migration program is focused on skilled migration to ensure that new arrivals can join the workforce and integrate quickly into our society.

The migration program for 2007-08 provides 102,500 places for skilled migration—that is, 67 per cent of the annual migration program. This compares to only 24,000 places under the Labor government, which was 30 per cent of the total. That is an enormous change. In government, Labor did not focus on skills; Labor used the migration program for political gain. Labor allocated 70 per cent of places to family reunions for people with little or no prospect of joining the workforce.

A very interesting speech by Barry Jones, the former Labor minister and of course the former federal President of the Australian Labor Party, was quoted in Paul Sheehan’s Among the barbarians: the dividing of Australia:

The handling of it [immigration] by the previous [Labor] Government was, I’d have to say, less than distinguished. Partly because, I think, it was seen as very important, a tremendously important element, in building up a long-term political constituency. ... There was that sense that you might get the Greek vote locked up, or, from other party-political points of view, you might get the Chinese vote locked up.

The Howard government has refocused its migration family scheme to provide places for all those who will contribute to the economy and our community. Many young professionals travel internationally and develop relationships with other young skilled professionals. We have increased the number of partner visas by 4,000 places to enable these young professionals to live and work here in Australia. The government will be opposing Senator Bartlett’s disallowance motion.