Tony Burke will have to get to grips with the sticky problem of Australian immigration.
As the new Australian Population Minister has to defend his role against the criticisms from the opposition, we ask – does anyone really know what that role is?
Well the Australian government’s decision to create this new role comes after Kevin Rudd has come under intense fire for failing to control immigration levels that some say are responsible for the huge population surge in Australia.
Under Kevin Rudd’s “big Australia” plan, immigration is vital to cover skilled worker shortages, to increase supply and demand in the Australian economy and to therefore protect the prosperity of Australia. However the government have been criticised for not having a good infrastructure in place to cope with the extra demands of a growing population.
This appointment of Tony Burke as Australia’s first ever Population Minister is part of a government strategy Mr Rudd says that Australia will be developing in the next 12 months. The strategy will involve the Australian public as much as possible and will look into issues surrounding transport, health services, water infrastructure and other government services.
So who is this new Population Minister, what will his role be and will he affect migration into Australia from those seeking skilled Australian worker visas? Mr Burke is currently Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, a role he will be keeping. His main task as Population Minister will be to develop this population strategy at ground level.
According to Mr Rudd, Mr Burke will be concentrating on developing Australia’s regional towns as a his first priority, but Mr Burke himself said that his role was not simply to deal with immigration but hinted that he could get involved with legal migrants and employers of overseas skilled workers as he stated; “it’s about some areas of the country where there are employers who desperately need more people.”
The opposition question Mr Burke’s experience in taking on such a role and say that his appointment is a snub to the current Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans, whose job description sounds very much like the new Population Minister’s.
As Australia is becoming one of the fastest growing countries in terms of population, in the world, it is clear that immigration is on the minds of the Australian people and could affect their vote in the forthcoming elections. It appears that Mr Rudd’s government is trying to address those fears but whether this will satisfy the voters remains to be seen.
In the meantime, if you are considering emigrating to Australia check out our guide to living in Australia and read our Australian visa information to find out which visa you should be applying for. Skilled workers are still needed in all corners of Australia and if you have the right skills, you could see yourself settling in front of the Barbie for Christmas!
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