Australia’s permanent migration programme for 2017-18 will remain at a ceiling of 190,000 places.
This was announced by Department of Immigration and Border Protection Minist... moreAustralia’s permanent migration programme for 2017-18 will remain at a ceiling of 190,000 places.
This was announced by Department of Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton on budget day.
After recent announcements of abolishing the 457 visas and strengthening the requirement to gain Australia’s citizenship, all eyes were on government to see if the skilled migrant intake would be reduced or would it be maintained.
Debate on migration intake was reignited in late 2016 when Labor and Coalition debated the ‘Australians First’ policy and brought back focus on 457 visa.
Migrant intake was also one of the core election issues in the West Australian state elections.
Even former Prime Minister Tony Abbott opined that reducing migrant intake could solve the problem of housing crisis in Australia.
Immigration amounts to approximately 55 per cent of Australia's population growth annually and "High rates of immigration put upward pressure on land and housing prices in Aust... less
