Coca Cola lend their support to migrants entering Australia.
The battle over Australian immigration hots up as Coca Cola step into the debate to lend their support to Australian immigration.
Coca-Cola Amatil Group managing director Terry Davis said today that immigration was “a good thing for the country” and that the Greek and Italian migrants who immigrated to Australia 50 years ago benefitted Australian society enormously.
Mr Davis was speaking to reporters at the Australian Institute of Company Directors in Melbourne. He opined that: “You’d hate to lose that view that we’re not an open and embracing culture and an open and embracing society,”
He said that companies bringing in temporary migrants from countries such as Indonesia faced having to pay them higher Australian salaries which was not financially justifiable. The DIAC introduced overseas workers rights last September which gave immigrants the rights to be paid the same wages as their Australian counterparts. This was to prevent businesses from choosing cheaper migrant labour over local workers.
However Mr Davis said that the Australian visa system has to be more flexible and he also came out in support of international students adding: “What about all these overseas students that do come here, and in 10 to 15 years time are in very senior positions? Don’t they have a good attitude about Australia? Isn’t that what we want?”
He also answered a question from the assembled reporters on whether he thought that overseas students studying for a professional degree should find it easier to obtain permanent residency in Australia. His answer was yes, they should.
Mr Davis is just one of a long list of business directors who are expressing concerns over both political parties stance on immigration in Australia. However with both Labour and Liberal pledging to cut back on immigrants entering Australia, it looks as though the businesses communities arguments may be falling on deaf ears.
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