Australia immigration minister recognises migrant needs

10 June 2011

Australia immigration minister Chris Bowen recognises need for more skilled migrants

The Australia visa immigration minister has disagreed with any suggestions that there should be further character tests on Australian visa applicants, saying that it would slow down processing times that are already too long.

¡°Mr Morrison¡¯s lack of forethought is astounding ¨C he has failed to consider the most basic impacts of such a proposal,¡± Bowen remarked

¡°There were almost 4.5 million permanent and temporary visas granted for people to come to Australia in 2009-10, and under his proposed amendment every person with even the most minor conviction would fail the character test, which could result in visa rejection,¡± he stated.

¡°In addition, the major impacts of investigating over four million visas annually would cause severe delays to visa processing, including temporary skilled, student and tourist visas, at significant financial cost to government and industry,¡± Bowen said.

Martin Ferguson said it would be detrimental to Australia¡¯s tourism & resources industry.

¡°As a former head of Tourism Australia, Scott Morrison should be aware of the significance of Australia¡¯s tourism industry ¨C an industry worth $34 billion to the Australian economy,¡± Ferguson said.

This is overall good news for applicants interested in visas to Australia - it shows that the minister are showing high positivity to Australia visa assessment and applicants.

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