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> There are currently 3 million temporary visa holders in the country, It's pretty important to realise that this includes student visas (600K - and education

by nl 9d ago

> There are currently 3 million temporary visa holders in the country, It's pretty important to realise that this includes student visas (600K - and education is a major earner for Australia) and graduate visas (200K) and 700K New Zealanders (who have their own special temporary class). There are also 250K working holiday visas (ie backpackers).

coderenegade 9d ago
Yes, the largest chunk is students. In fact, ~6% of all international students in the world attend Australian universities, making it the largest per-capita destination for international students by a significant margin. They still require housing, and they still have working rights. Fake students coming over to work without ever attending a class is a well-known rort. The single biggest justification for our high migration setting (among the highest in the OECD) is ostensibly for skills we need to keep the economy afloat. I've yet to see a skills shortage closed by migration. And of course, skilled migrants are one of the smaller cohorts in our net intake -- we actually bring in more dependents than we do skilled workers.
- nl 8d ago
  Of course skills shortages are closed by migrants! You've never met one of the many ex-UK police officers or nurses? Or the many welders on mine sites? And of course skilled migrants have dependents - they generally have partners and kids. Why is this surprising?
  - coderenegade 8d ago
    Most professions on the list don't have a shortage, and professions stay on the list for far longer than necessary. We don't need any more IT workers, for instance; my workplace routinely receives hundreds of applications even for temporary roles. We get to set the terms of migration, because it's our country. I don't think we should be allowing students to bring dependents across, for instance, because they're students. We're already saturated with them, and could stand to be a bit more exclusive.

by nl 9d ago

coderenegade 9d ago

Yes, the largest chunk is students. In fact, ~6% of all international students in the world attend Australian universities, making it the largest per-capita destination for international students by a significant margin. They still require housing, and they still have working rights. Fake students coming over to work without ever attending a class is a well-known rort. The single biggest justification for our high migration setting (among the highest in the OECD) is ostensibly for skills we need to keep the economy afloat. I've yet to see a skills shortage closed by migration. And of course, skilled migrants are one of the smaller cohorts in our net intake -- we actually bring in more dependents than we do skilled workers.

nl 8d ago
Of course skills shortages are closed by migrants! You've never met one of the many ex-UK police officers or nurses? Or the many welders on mine sites? And of course skilled migrants have dependents - they generally have partners and kids. Why is this surprising?
- coderenegade 8d ago
  Most professions on the list don't have a shortage, and professions stay on the list for far longer than necessary. We don't need any more IT workers, for instance; my workplace routinely receives hundreds of applications even for temporary roles. We get to set the terms of migration, because it's our country. I don't think we should be allowing students to bring dependents across, for instance, because they're students. We're already saturated with them, and could stand to be a bit more exclusive.