By Francesca Davis
Yet another round of changes to entry requirements for immigrants has reaffirmed the Coalition government's commitment to ensuring that business gets the migrant labour it needs without taking on any of the cost of settling the new arrivals.
The government has already denied new arrivals access to social security payments for two years, increased the entry application fee to up to $2000 and introduced a Medicare levy of $924 and new English language charges of up to $2200.
The latest changes, disclosed in the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this month, affect the skilled migrant category. A selection process that ensures that those migrants most suitable to business needs get priority is being established. This is most blatant in a proposal to set up a list of migrants whose professions match Australian demand and to waive entry requirements for them.
As a start, from July 1, applicants will receive an extra five points if they are aged between 35 and 44, and an extra five if they have Australian educational or trade qualifications. Spouses who speak English and who meet the skills and age requirements will also gain five extra points.
Selected skilled migrants must also be those least likely to require services when they arrive. After November, family sponsors will have to post bonds of up to $4000 to cover any welfare costs incurred by new migrants. This is the first time bonds have been extended to skilled immigrants.
Secondly, family sponsors will face a "minimum taxable income requirement" if they wish to sponsor a family member. Wealthy applicants who bring capital and deposit in an approved government investment for a minimum of one year will gain extra points. These measures clearly discriminate against poorer migrants.
The new measures will affect 23,000 migrants in the independent and the skilled-Australia linked (SAL) categories. Those in the independent category have no local family links, while those in the SAL category are family members who do not meet family reunion requirements.
Taken together with other changes to entry requirements and an overall cut to immigration of around 20% over the past two years, Howard's immigration policy may win back some of the supporters lost to One Nation, although that party is now arguing for zero immigration.
Nevertheless, the selection process results in a weeding out of poor non-white migrants, a concession to anti-Asian racist sentiment.
As the English language becomes more and more important as an entry requirement, now also applying to the family reunion scheme, Howard's immigration program bears a frightening resemblance to the white Australia policy. This is possibly why not much protest is coming from the ALP, the party from which that infamous policy originated.
In the face of draconian changes to immigration law and following ethnic community outrage at its refusal to commit to overturn the two-year wait rule, the most the ALP has put forward is a proposal for a population policy.
At the Australia Unlimited Round Table conference held in Melbourne in early May, the ALP suggested that such a policy would eliminate annual debate about immigration intake and allow the government to plan infrastructure growth and regional development.
As government cutbacks continue, more racist justification for them is needed; this is the role of myths spread by Hanson and allowed to go unchallenged by the media and establishment parties.
The latest such myth claims that migrants come here to bludge off social security benefits unavailable in their own countries. In fact, recent studies show that unemployed migrants are less likely to be receiving Jobsearch or Newstart allowances than their Australian-born counterparts, and underutilise social services in general.
A recent study of new arrivals since the two year wait period was introduced found that 48% said they had been better off in their home country. With no effort being made by any of the major parties to defend migrant rights, migrant communities will be forced to mobilise to defend themselves.