Australia and New Zealand Immigration News

The Australian immigration system is said to be in disarray, after documents leaked last month show that the system has been subject to widespread fraud for a number of years.

The documents, which were leaked to Fairfax, one of Australia's largest media companies, paint a picture of a system which has been virtually destroyed by budget cuts and privatisation. According to one report, the investigations department has been so deskilled that it is unable to investigate fraud any more.

A report written by an Australian academic states that there have been 400,000 jobs created in the Australian economy since 2011 and that migrants who have arrived in the country since that year have taken 380,000 of them; 95% of the total.

The report, Immigration and Unemployment in 2014, is written by Bob Birrell and Ernest Healy of Monash University in Melbourne. Dr Birrell is a long-standing critic of Australia's immigration policy which he says has resulted in a lack of jobs for Australian citizens and residents, particularly the young.

Australian immigration may have peaked, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Net inward migration in the year to March 2014 stood at 380,910. This is slightly down from the January 2013 figure of 411,000. But, it still amounts to 1.65% of the Australian population. As such, it is still, as Pete Wargent of the Australian propertyobserver.com.au website says, a 'huge' figure.

The Australian immigration minister Scott Morrison has announced 'sweeping changes' to the way Australia defends its borders. The principle innovation is the creation of the Australian Border Force (ABF).

The ABF will be made up of customs and immigration staff. It will be based in the Australian capital territory of Canberra and led by a commissioner who will be of similar seniority to the Chief of the Defence Force (Australian armed services). The Commissioner will report directly to the immigration minister.

Net immigration to New Zealand rose to 31,900 in the year to March 2014, the highest figure for eleven years and the second highest level ever. The highest number of immigrants were from the People's Republic of China followed by India and the UK.

Many of the Chinese migrants are wealthy businesspeople who were issued with investor visas. Around 3,000 Chinese applicants were issued with one of New Zealand's investor visas, the Investor Visa and the Investor Visa Plus during the year in question.

James Packer, a wealthy Australian businessman who owns a chain of casinos, has said that the Australian government should make it easier for Chinese visitors to get Australian tourist visas.

Mr Packer, Australia's second richest man according to BRW, a respected Australian business magazine, is the chairman of Crown Limited, a company which owns and part-owns 'integrated resorts' which include casinos in Australia, the Philippines and Macau.