GOVT ADVISING OTHER STATES TO FOLLOW QUEENSLAND EXAMPLE AND ASK THE IMMIGRANTS TO SETTLE IN REGIONAL AREA AND NOT IN METRO AREA WHICH COULD HELPED THEIR VISAS FAST TRACKED IN THE COUNTRY. 20TH JANUARY 2014 THE federal government says other states should follow Queensland and look at using immigrants and refugees to drive regional growth. Premier Campbell Newman has been in talks with federal Immigration Minister Scott Morrison about ways to boost the regions and ease population pressures in the southeast. Under the proposal, immigrants and refugees willing to spend a few years in regional parts of Queensland could have their visas fast-tracked. The federal government says its own policies to develop northern Australia could benefit from Queenslands plan. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will make themselves available to work through any proposal the Queensland government wishes to put forward, a spokesperson for Mr Morrison has told AAP. The same offer is open to every other state and territory to make constructive suggestions based on their own population policies. The Abbott government has set up a special committee to drive the development of northern Australia, chaired by far north Queensland MP Warren Entsch. It is focused on what infrastructure is needed to encourage economic and population growth in the region. But Monash University population expert Dr Bob Birrell says he doesnt think Mr Newmans plan will work.Ive seen these plans repeatedly over the past 30 or 40 years and theyve never worked, he told the ABC.And thats obvious when you look at the distribution of overseas-born persons in Australia - 90 per cent of all persons born overseas, particularly from Asian countries, are located in the metropolitan areas of Australia.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 08:53:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015