Tony Abbott hints at immigration cuts.
Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott has given the biggest hint yet of what his policies on immigration would be.
The Liberal Party leader is busy on the campaign trail in Freemantle and when questioned about immigration, said that he would release more details about the party’s immigration policy in the next few days.
However Mr Abbott has hinted that current immigration levels of 300,000 are too high and that at its peak, Australia should only be taking in 200,000. Yet it’s worth mentioning that current levels of 300,000 are not a true reflection of recent months as the Australian Bureau of Statistics how a steady decline in the number of people emigrating to Australia.
Meanwhile Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pledged to continue with the current immigration program set up by the DIAC.
Previously Ms Gillard has said that she opposes Mr Rudd’s idea of a ‘big Australia’ but during Mr Rudd’s time in office, the DIAC was already reviewing immigration policy with a view to changing the focus on highly skilled migrants emigrating to where they were needed the most. As far as population is concerned, these changes in immigration policy are working as statistics show a decrease in the numbers of visa applications and migrants entering Australia.
Ms Gillard has said that she wants a manageable level of immigration to help towards a sustainable Australia. She may not be as forthcoming as Mr Abbott about cuts in immigration levels, but certainly the DIAC changes are doing just that and so it may be that Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott aren’t so different in their immigration targets after all.
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