Australia and New Zealand Immigration News

The Australian Capital Territory maintained a high level of immigration during the 2009-10 fiscal year. Each year in the last two years more than 1850 people have chosen to emigrate to Canberra.

The Australian Capital Territory, home of Australia's capital city, is the nation's smallest state/territory.

The numbers are above the average annual level over the last ten years but did not reach the record of 1942 immigrant arrivals in 2008-09.

Students from countries such as Saudi Arabia, India, and Vietnam are contributing to huge growth in New Zealand's education industry.

The New Zealand education industry brought in $664 million more in student fee income than it did in the previous year. According to the Department of Labour's migration trends report, this included a 10 percent overall growth in revenue from international students.

The Australian government will make it easier for employers to bring in temporary overseas workers to help with the reconstruction efforts in Queensland.

Queensland was devastated by flooding in December and January which resulted in thousands of people being forced to evacuate. The economic damage is is estimated at about $10 billion.

Calls for increased skilled immigration are coming from Australia's mining industry as unemployment rates down under continue to fall.

Goldfields Chamber of Mining and Energy is urging the federal government to increase skilled immigration to help Australia's mining sector cope with expected labour shortages in the near future.

During the 2009-10 financial year, the Australian state of Victoria was the first choice for Chinese and Indian immigrants emigrating to Australia, according to statistics released by Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

Overall, Victoria has seen a decline in the number of new overseas settlers; There was also a lower rate of immigration in the whole of Australia as a result of the global economic crisis of 2008.

Official Australian government statistics show that the largest source of immigrants to the Australian state came from the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

19.5 percent of immigrants to Western Australia came from the United Kingdom in 2009-10, with New Zealand accounting for 11.9 percent and South Africa at 11.5 percent.

While immigration into Western Australia was down by 3487 people, immigration is expected to rise as the Australian economy heats up.