Immigration news

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.

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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.

The state government of Victoria in Australia is seeking skilled Indians.

The net inflow of migrants to New Zealand dropped to 7000 last year, the weakest result since 2000 and less than half 2004's gain of 15,100. But December's figures, reported by Statistics New Zealand, were the strongest all year. A net gain of 1260, seasonally adjusted, which was more than twice the monthly average for 2005. The trend of the seasonally adjusted figures has been improving since July, when a net gain of only 30 people was recorded.