Australia and New Zealand Immigration News

When is the last time you heard about a country aiming an advertising campaign at its own citizens? That's exactly what New Zealand has been doing for the past few months - and it's not just propaganda. With labor shortages across several industries, the country has an urgent need to lure back the 10 percent to 15 percent of its citizens who live abroad. The International Herald Tribune's Daniel Altman reports.

A team of Croatian tradesmen brought to Adelaide, Australia to work on short-term contracts has sparked a row over the use of foreign labour in Australia. The 35 workers have been employed by a German company subcontracted by GM Holden to install a new paint line at the car maker's Adelaide assembly operations.

Australian unions fear the men are being exploited by being paid lower wages, and are angry the jobs did not go to local workers in an area of 19 percent unemployment.

Radio New Zealand International Online reports that New Zealand's Immigration minister is warning people in Fiji to be wary of a company reportedly promising jobs picking apples in New Zealand.

Reports say that "Pooz Travel World" is charging up to two thousand New Zealand dollars in return for a job. Immigration officials say there is no need to go through an employment consultant in order to work in New Zealand, and people would be better off approaching the New Zealand High Commission directly.

Australia's lack of skilled workers has hit the city of Ballarat hard.

Ballarat Migration Project's CEO Narelle Hibberd said the city's vacancy rates in building, engineering, automotive and hairdressing were higher than the national rate.

"It's a growing issue and it's not going to go away," she said.

Mrs Hibberd said Ballarat business owners needed to consider attracting skilled migrants to fill vacancies.

"We're hoping to educate employers and let them know attracting skilled migrants is an option," she said.

More immigrants arrived to settle in Australia in 2005 than in any year since the 1980s. The British led the way, with 21,780 of them leaving last year to settle in Australia. The number of British settlers arriving has more than doubled in just three years, with a 30 per cent rise last year alone.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 128,740 settlers arrived at our airports in 2005, 10 per cent more than in 2004 and the third year in a row of double-digit growth in arrivals.

Australia's Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone is considering measures to cut the number of less-skilled technology workers entering Australia.Senator Vanstone is looking at ways to better define skills categories in the tech sector to improve targeting of migrants with skills in short supply in Australia.

The measures being considered include a tightening of the points system used to grant visas to overseas students studying IT in Australia.