Fingerprinting is just one new mandatory regulation for visa applicants.
First Australia got tough on immigration under the general migration rules, now it’s getting tough on terrorism by imposing strict new checks on Australian visas.
Migrants and visitors from certain countries will be subject to the tough new measures which include storing fingerprints and facial imaging data.
Australia refuses to say which countries would be subject to such checks but it is thought that around ten countries will be affected. Potential immigrants and visitors to Australia would be cross-checked with databases in Australia and other countries in order to detect any terrorist threats.
Kevin Rudd the Minister for Australian Immigration released the government’s white paper in Canberra which outlined the plans. He said: “Terrorism continues to pose a serious threat and a serious challenge to Australia’s security interests. That threat is not diminishing.”
“In fact, the government security intelligence agencies assess that terrorism has become a persistent and permanent feature of Australia’s security environment. These agencies warn that an attack could occur at any time.”
The new measures will cost around $69m (£40m) to set up a national control centre with biometric facilities.
However not all threats of terrorism come from outside Australia. Only last week five Australian citizens were jailed for stockpiling chemicals and weapons which were to be used in terrorist attacks. The white paper reports acknowledges the flaws in the new regulations but states that this is only one in a series of measures that the government are taking to prevent Australia becoming a target for terrorism.
The government has plans to work with communities and promote better integrated of ethnic groups into mainstream society.
What do you think of the new governmental plans? Do you think it will help to tackle terrorism coming into Australia or do you think the government needs to be focusing its efforts closer to home? Let us know your thoughts in our comments box at the bottom, or have a debate on all things Australian by joining our friendly online community.
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One Response to “Australia Introduces Tougher Immigration Checks”
Comment by Malcolm MacLean — February 23, 2010 @ 10:49 am
I think Australia has pretty much become a joke to the rest of the world. A very undesirable destination. Who would want to migrate there, net alone live there.
All of these new Gov regs…. seen it all before back in 1935, Hitler…. I never want to come back… and I’ve lived there for 30+ years!
There is no threat of terrorism as such – it’s just profiling people for the data base. Australia, thumbs down from me………..