Who is the US government hoping to attract?

[Logres 0]

Pom invasion' hitting Down Under

By Nick Bryant

BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6972076.stm

On the shores of Coogee beach in Sydney, British fitness expert Rob Derbyshire gently reminds his British client Judith that gain is normally accompanied by pain.

Dashing up the beach together, they look like part of a "pom" invasion of Australia. And in many ways they are.

The number of British people emigrating to Australia has already increased from 8,749 in the year from 2001 to 2002 to 23,290 in 2005 to 2006.

And it has just become easier for Brits to make their homes Down Under.

Changes to the points system, which come into effect on 1 September, will award five valuable extra points for people who can pass a standard English language test, a Brit-friendly policy partly designed to lure more "poms" here.

'No looking back'

The Lucky Country is facing a chronic skills shortage, and wants Brits to make their home in this "help-wanted" nation.

For people like Rob, it should make the passage from Britain to Australia a whole lot easier. Despite being a fully qualified aircraft mechanic, the type of skill which Australia desperately needs, it required a four-year struggle to get permanent residency.

"It was very laborious, on and off, and back and forward to the immigration office. So it was a big relief when that magic piece of paper arrived in the mail one day telling me I was in. There's no looking back," he says.

Brad Ngata Hair Direction is one of Australia's leading salons - its mantelpiece almost buckles under the weight of all its trophies.

But when it advertised for qualified hairdressers, it received only three applicants. Brits, with scissors and dryers in hand, are helping to plug the shortfall.

"It's really easy to get work in Australia hairdressing, because we're really in demand," says Kelly Grant, who works alongside Brad Ngata.

"There's lots of job offers and lots of opportunities. My friends are always surprised to learn how easy it is to get jobs here."

To some, this Brit-friendly policy is happily reminiscent of the "£10 poms", the post-war government assisted scheme that helped more than a million Britons to migrate.

It was one of the best bargains going - a £10 fare for adult migrants, with children travelling free.

To others, the award of extra points to fluent English speakers is more sinister, with shades of the monocultural "white Australia policy", the umbrella term for a swathe of policies and laws engineered to limit non-white immigration which finally petered out in the early 1970s.

"I do see this as an attack on multiculturalism," complains Kate Gauthier, from the group A Just Australia.

"This particular policy is about monoculturalism rather than multiculturalism, which is disturbing because we have had a proud tradition of multiculturalism in this country and it's certainly a step back towards the white Australia policy. It's not all the way back, but it's going in that direction," she says.

Tougher tests

Australia claims to be the most successfully multicultural country in the world. According to the 2001 census, 23% of the population were born overseas, while 43% of the population were either born overseas or had at least one parent born overseas.

But gaining citizenship is just about to get tougher, and applicants will be soon required to take a test on the country's history and values.

To qualify, they will be asked 20 questions - drawn randomly from 200 - and be expected to answer 12 correctly.

Who was the first Australian prime minister? What is the floral emblem of Australia? You get the idea.

The idea is to balance ethnic diversity with social cohesion, and the country's immigration minister claims it will not discriminate against applicants with a non-Anglo background.

Ms Gauthier says: "If they don't pass they still remain a permanent resident of Australia and we would encourage them to go away, have a look at the resources, learn a bit more in the area where they might not have been strong in and come back and sit it again."

Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland

Australia's 3,000-km Great Barrier Reef can be seen from space

But she says the test is weighted against non-white applicants.

"All the questions on Australian culture are from a really Anglo-Saxon perspective. It's about mateship and cricket. Australian culture is about much more than that. It's not just about Don Bradman and beating the English cricket team."

The booklet designed to help applicants with the test does speak of Australia's "immense pleasure" at first beating the mother country in 1882.

For British applicants, Australia is about to become more welcoming - but is it at the cost of migrants from other countries?

Edited August 31, 2007 by Logres

[Ban Hammer 14,299]

i thought this was talking about a porn invasion

[Heracles 417]

Some really interesting points there. I never realized how many immigrants where actually born overseas. Almost 1 in 4

Robinklake. I found some interesting comments for you. I remember you asking what are the differences in the visa process..

For people like Rob, it should make the passage from Britain to Australia a whole lot easier. Despite being a fully qualified aircraft mechanic, the type of skill which Australia desperately needs, it required a four-year struggle to get permanent residency.

"It was very laborious, on and off, and back and forward to the immigration office. So it was a big relief when that magic piece of paper arrived in the mail one day telling me I was in. There's no looking back," he says.

[Heracles 417]

Nice thread title Logres. Ultimately it is the million dollar question that every American should be asking.

[Dr_LHA 3]

What has the title of this thread got to do with the article?

I had to laugh at the idea of Australia having a shortage of hairdressers. Perhaps we can load them all onto a boat and send them off to Australia along with all the Telephone Sanitizers and Management consultants.

Edited August 31, 2007 by Dr_LHA

[Logres 0]

What has the title of this thread got to do with the article?

The article includes speculation that the Australian government is looking to include or exclude certain groups from immigrating...... so why not try to infer if the US government is doing likewise. Maybe the answer is, that it is not.

I had to laugh at the idea of Australia having a shortage of hairdressers. Perhaps we can load them all onto a boat and send them off to Australia along with all the Telephone Sanitizers and Management consultants.

[Jasman0717 9]

I had to laugh at the idea of Australia having a shortage of hairdressers.

That settles it, not beauty school dropout here

[MissStacey 1]

Hey!! Don't make fun of hairdressers!!

[Heracles 417]

What has the title of this thread got to do with the article?

I had to laugh at the idea of Australia having a shortage of hairdressers. Perhaps we can load them all onto a boat and send them off to Australia along with all the Telephone Sanitizers and Management consultants.

Australia has a huge skilled worker shortage. One of my good friend earns about $800 to $1000 per day as a bricklayer..

If only the illegal immigrants, in the US, knew English. They would then be able to read stuff like this and move to a country where they could actually earn a few hundred per day..

Edited August 31, 2007 by Boo-Yah!

[MissStacey 1]

What has the title of this thread got to do with the article?

I had to laugh at the idea of Australia having a shortage of hairdressers. Perhaps we can load them all onto a boat and send them off to Australia along with all the Telephone Sanitizers and Management consultants.

Australia has a huge skilled worker shortage. One of my good friend earns about $800 to $1000 per day as a bricklayer..

If only the illegal immigrants, in the US, knew English. They would then be able to read stuff like this and move to a country where they could actually earn a few hundred per day..

What are hairdressers making?

[Heracles 417]

What has the title of this thread got to do with the article?

I had to laugh at the idea of Australia having a shortage of hairdressers. Perhaps we can load them all onto a boat and send them off to Australia along with all the Telephone Sanitizers and Management consultants.

Australia has a huge skilled worker shortage. One of my good friend earns about $800 to $1000 per day as a bricklayer..

If only the illegal immigrants, in the US, knew English. They would then be able to read stuff like this and move to a country where they could actually earn a few hundred per day..

What are hairdressers making?

Not sure but I know my hairdresser there wasn't doing too bad at all. Had a nice new 325i BMW. Those care are not cheap there..

Edited August 31, 2007 by Boo-Yah!

[Sheriff Uling 3]

I have not read what this thread is about, but to answer the title question.... ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!

[HOHOHO 0]

to answer the question:

RICH PEOPLE