Australian Immigration and Citizenship Minister Mr. Chris Bowen addressed this evening the Australia India Business Council on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee. Congratulations to the AIBC on 25 years of work to promote closer economic and business ties between Australia and India, he said.
International chambers of commerce and business councils play a vital role in Australia’s trade performance and building key person-to-person links across international boundaries to the benefit of both nations. This Business Council is a particularly important one because business links between India and Australia are particularly important, said a Ministry media release today.
India, of course, has always been one of the world’s great civilisations. In 1947 India took its rightful place as one of the world’s great nations. And now, to complete the trifecta, India is taking its place as one of the world’s great economies.
And as India undergoes this transformation, your business council plays a key role in fostering and furthering our already deep people-to-people links.
The governments of both India and Australia are committed to deepening our relationship. Since 2008, there have been 21 visits by Australian ministers to India.
However, it is not just governments that will forge the close ties that are essential for the wellbeing of both nations, but people. I believe what unites us most is not our joint membership at the Commonwealth of Nations or our common lore of cricket, but the close links forged by the greatest cross-cultural and economic development program of all: immigration.
I’m proud of the fact that India is the third largest source of permanent migrants to Australia. Every single permanent migrant from India to Australia is an ambassador for both nations. Every one of the 350,000 Australians of Indian heritage is a driver of our close relations.
Equally important is temporary migration, particularly students.
Indians studying in Australia are important for our educational institutions and our economy. But perhaps more importantly, having thousands of young Indians furthering their education in Australia means that – if we get it right – they will go through life as firm friends of Australia with fond memories of their Australian education and all the positive implications for our long term bilateral relations that implies. I’ll talk more about Indian students in Australia in a few moments.
In 2010, Australia invested over $407 billion in India in a range of sectors, including manufacturing, telecommunications, hotels, minerals and food processing, oil and gas, and in the automotive sector.
While merchandise trade accounts for the major part of this figure, our role in providing services is growing. In 2010, Australia exported $3.1 billion worth of services to India, with 84 per cent of those exports in the education sector. New prospects continue to emerge, in areas like ICT, biotechnology, tourism, health, film, and insurance.
As you would expect with such a significant economic relationship for Australia, India features prominently in our skilled migration program.
Tonight I want to talk about the thinking behind the reforms to our skilled migration program undertaken by the Government over the past few years and the direction of the program as it becomes more responsive to Australia’s economic needs.
I would first like to discuss recent initiatives in the student visa space that Senator Chris Evans and I announced following Michael Knight’s review of the student visa regime.
Education sector links
As I have said, education presents one of the most valuable opportunities for both countries to lay the foundation for an enduring partnership at an economic, social and political level. It presents enormous opportunities to deepen collaboration between institutions across the education and training sectors, business and industry, and our governments.
There’s no doubt that India is a key partner for Australia in its international education engagement activities. Indeed, Australia has a long history of engagement with India in international education dating back to the Colombo plan of the 1950s.
In April 2010, Australia and India entered into a Joint Ministerial Statement to deepen the cooperative education relationship between the two nations. This Statement confirms our joint commitment to expand the current Education Exchange Program to achieve greater cooperation between the two countries’ education and training sectors.
The Joint Statement has been operationalised by both governments through the establishment of the Australia-India Education Council, the Bureau of Vocational Education and Training Cooperation, the new Australia-India Higher Education Exchange and the Shadowing Faculty Exchange pilot program.
Building on this, both countries’ Education Ministers agreed to a Memorandum of Cooperation on Student Mobility and Welfare, which puts special emphasis on measures to enhance the safety and welfare of students in both countries and strengthen the monitoring of education agent activities.
Given the strong cultural and economic value of our education links, it was with great concern that the Government observed problems emerging in Australia’s international education space a few years ago. In the rush to grow, some providers lost their focus on quality.
Courses geared towards migration outcomes emerged and it became clear that quality assurance mechanisms were struggling to cope. Individual student experiences suffered as a result. This had the effect of risking the benefits of quality education in our bi-lateral relationships and tarnishing the reputation of a great number of quality education providers.
Clearly action was required and the Government has moved address these issues. We adjusted our visa settings to respond to these concerns. We took action to introduce new national regulators and a tougher re-registration process to ensure quality in the education sector. We also introduced new legislation to safeguard students in the event of a provider default and good providers are also taking their role in ensuring the welfare of students more seriously.
In this context, Senator Evans and I asked Michael Knight to take a hard look at the way the Student visa program works; identify any impediments to quality, integrity and competition; and recommend measures to put the international education sector back on a sustainable growth path.
We want to grow the numbers of international students in Australia, but we want to do so within the framework of ensuring a quality experience and ensuring people coming to Australia come to undertake genuine study.
Michael Knight conducted a very comprehensive review of our student visa system and consulted very heavily throughout the education sector, including during a visit to India, as well as to China and Malaysia. The Government has decided to act on all of Mr Knight’s recommendations, with some modifications and additions.
Fundamentally, our reforms have two objectives: to enhance the integrity of Australia’s Student visa program and to strengthen the competitiveness of our international education sector.
The introduction of a new, more flexible genuine temporary entrant criterion will boost the integrity of the program by giving my department more discretion to look at a wider range of risk factors when deciding visa applications. This – together with the establishment of new national education regulation and quality assurance bodies – has provided the opportunity to start the move to what is essentially a provider-based risk management model.
That is, a model where we measure immigration risk based on an education provider’s past performance, rather than only focusing on student risk. A model where education providers have a clear incentive to take greater responsibility for their recruitment practices; a model that will support the competitiveness of quality providers and allow them to be more agile in their education offerings.
The first step in moving towards such a provider risk based framework is streamlined visa processing for students enrolled with universities. But let me be clear – this is not a free ride. In return, the universities must accept greater responsibility for selecting genuine students.
We also recognise that there are high-quality, low immigration risk providers across all education sectors. That’s why we are looking at ways to apply this principle more broadly through the fundamental review of the Student visa risk management framework – the Assessment Level review – which is due to report by mid-2012.
The Government is also introducing reforms specifically targeted at post-graduate students, including streamlined processing and enhanced work rights. These measures recognise that high quality human capital is essential to Australia’s ability to innovate and that the brightest students and researchers are highly prized in many countries.
We want to encourage the cream of talent emerging from our universities to stay on and contribute.
Skilled migration
While international education provides a foundation for long-term people-to-people links, it’s our skilled migration program that provides a more immediate gateway to building closer ties between India and Australia. There is no question that India is a major part of our skilled migration program. India is now consistently one of the top three source countries for skilled permanent migration and temporary skilled workers. Over the last two decades, 223,000 Indian nationals have arrived as permanent migrants to Australia, with over three-quarters of those in the skilled stream of the program.
It is a very positive indicator of our growing economic relationship that India has become such a substantial part of our skilled migration program.
Indian migrants are both welcome and successful in Australia, but their significant role in our skilled migration program, now and in the future, is not because they are Indian. Rather it is because they are skilled individuals who best suit Australia’s economic needs and consequently will have the best chance of success here in Australia. The fact is that our skilled migration program is designed not to favour any one country, other than Australia.
Latest reforms
This Government has undertaken some serious reform to our skilled migration program over the past few years, with some further key developments announced for implementation in the year ahead. Some of the key reforms include:
· rebuilding public confidence in the temporary skilled worker visa, known as the 457 visa;
· introducing flexible State Migration Plans to address the unique skills needs of different regions; and
· overhauling the independent skilled route, by focusing on key occupations and implementing a new points test last July.

The guiding principle to these reforms is to better enable our skilled migration program to meet Australia’s ongoing – and often changing – skills needs. That is, to have a skilled migration program that is responsive to our economic needs and complementing efforts to develop our domestic skills base. Put simply, Australia’s permanent skilled migration program must be shaped by Australia’s needs rather than by the desire of prospective migrants to come to Australia.
In this year’s Budget, I announced a measured increase in the skilled migration program for 2011-12, up to 125,850 places, in response to the economic outlook for unemployment and growth over the year ahead. Setting a migration program is always a matter of balance between labour demands and the need to maintain opportunities for Australians.
Addressing short term skills shortages
Of course, the temporary skilled migration program, the 457 visa, continues to play a vital role in supporting business and meeting immediate skills gaps. Indian citizens now make up the second largest group to use the program, behind the United Kingdom.
These skilled workers are employed across a great variety of industries and work in many different occupations. The program has become international best practice in facilitating access to skilled labour.
Average processing times for 457 visa applications are also 30 per cent lower than they were in 2006-07 – down from 31 to 22 days. We aim to cut processing times even further. The new $10 million 457 visa centre in Brisbane will make substantial progress in improving 457 visa processing times. Our aim is to see 457 visas processed within 10 days.
It is important not to lose sight of the intent of our reforms to the 457 program. Overseas workers must be protected and employers using the program do carry obligations in this respect. The program also has to complement opportunities for Australians and not adversely impact on Australian wages and conditions.
Today I can announce the introduction of a new accreditation scheme for 457 visa sponsors from next Monday, 7 November that recognises businesses with an excellent track record of compliance with workplace and migration laws. This new scheme will give accredited sponsors access to priority processing for all future nomination and visa applications – resulting in the fastest possible processing times for those businesses. Accredited businesses will also qualify for double the regular sponsorship approval period, from three to six years.
Businesses will need to meet benchmarks to qualify for accredited status, including ensuring at least three-quarters of their domestic workforce is Australian; and being an active 457 visa sponsor for the past three years, with at least 30 overseas workers on 457 visas over the past 12 months.
This will continue to ensure that the 457 program is responsive to the economic cycle and provides a flexible avenue for employers to fill immediate and short-term skill vacancies, while maintaining opportunities and conditions for Australian workers.
Employer sponsored visas: the flagship program
To make the permanent skills migration program more responsive to labour market demand, the permanent employer sponsored options have assumed greater significance in the skilled program. These categories take up between 35 and 40 per cent of the program over the last three years, compared to around 15 per cent previously. Our research shows that employer sponsored migrants have excellent labour market outcomes, with employment rates of 99 per cent, more than 90 per cent of which is skilled employment.
I recently asked my department to review the employer sponsored category with a view to making it more streamlined, in particular looking at the transition from a temporary to a permanent visa. I expect to be in a position to say more about the outcomes of the review in coming months, with implementation by July next year.
SkillSelect
The introduction of SkillSelect is the final and most significant step in the Government’s skilled migration reforms.
SkillSelect will start from 1 July 2012 and apply to independent and state sponsored visas. That’s almost 60 per cent of the Skills program – or around 72,000 visas. It will be a major change in the way this program is managed.
There are two parts to SkillSelect – an internal process to select migrants and an external database that employers can also use.
The first part of the program is a two-stage process for the Government to select migrants.
Prospective migrants will initially submit their claims for migration through an Expression of Interest.
The Government will then invite people to apply for a visa if the points test identifies that they have the best combination of skills and attributes for Australia. This will ensure that the limited Skilled Migration Program places are allocated to the best possible candidates.
Through SkillSelect we won’t just accept the first applicant through the door – but the applicant who has the most to offer Australia.
Of particular interest to business is the SkillSelect external database that will contain information from the Expressions of Interest lodged with the department. This free, searchable database will allow employers to connect with, and if suitable, to sponsor through our employer sponsored programs skilled people interested in migrating to Australia. This is particularly useful for small businesses as it provides easy access to a database of skilled workers making the search easy and recruitment costs low.
Conclusion
In conclusion, can I thank you again for the work you do in forging business and trade links between Australia and India.
My eyes were first opened to the beauty of India, the beauty of the Indian people, and the massive potential of the Indian economy when I backpacked through India back in 1998. It was the beginning of my long standing interest in all things India.
Better links between Australia and India are something that will always find my support. It is important that our two great Commonwealth democracies never lose touch, and more particularly build even closer ties. With our strong migration program from India, with the strong joint commitment of both governments, and with the work you do, I’m confident that’s exactly what we’re doing.

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The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, today announced businesses using the subclass 457 visa program can now gain access to priority processing and approval for six years under a new accreditation scheme.

“This new scheme recognises that many Australian businesses have a long history of dealing with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and an excellent record of compliance with workplace and migration laws,” Mr Bowen said.

“From 7 November, these businesses will be able to seek accreditation that qualifies them for sponsorship approval of six years rather than the current three, as well as ensuring faster processing times for all future subclass 457 nominations and visa applications.”

Businesses will need to meet certain additional benchmarks to qualify for accredited status, including being an active 457 visa sponsor for the past three years and a commitment to ensuring at least 75 per cent of their domestic workforce is Australian.

“While employers should first look to Australians to fill skill vacancies, the subclass 457 visa provides a fast and flexible process for the entry of overseas workers where they are needed to fill skill vacancies,” Mr Bowen said.

“The new accreditation scheme was developed in consultation with the Skilled Migration Consultative Panel, which includes representatives from major employer groups, unions and state governments.”

The 2011 KPMG Skilled Migration Survey of employers found that the subclass 457 visa program provided a flexible avenue to alleviate skill shortages in growth sectors such as the mining industry.

Use of the subclass 457 visa program is increasing, with 54,360 subclass 457 primary visas granted in 2010-11, an increase of 38.2 per cent compared to the same period the year before. The UK was the most popular source country, with 11,820 primary applicants granted visas.

The median processing time for a subclass 457 visa remains at a historically low level of 22 days

THE government has quietly issued a formal apology to the wrongly detained Mohammed Haneef, saying it hopes he can now move on with his life.

Dr Haneef this week received a substantial compensation payout from the federal government following his  detention on terrorism-related charges in 2007.

Part of the settlement was that the government would formally apologise, which it has done today by releasing a statement on the website of the Attorney-General’s Department.

“The AFP (Australian Federal Police) acknowledges that it was mistaken and that Dr Haneef was innocent of the offence of which he was suspected,” the apology reads.

“The commonwealth apologises and hopes that the compensation to be paid to Dr Haneef will mark the end of an unfortunate chapter and allow Dr Haneef to move forward with his life and career.”

Earlier, yesterday a report said that Mohamed Haneef has reportedly been awarded about $1 million in compensation.

Kevin Andrews, the immigration minister at the time, said last night he had been advised defamation action against him had been dropped.

He added that he had made no apology, nor had any compensation been paid in relation to the action.

Dr Haneef’s lawyer Rod Hodgson said the apology reaffirmed his client’s innocence and follows the resolution of the doctor’s compensation claim earlier this week.

“We congratulate the government for recognising an injustice done on the watch of the previous government and for this public apology and declaration of innocence,” he said. “The apology means a lot to our client.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Hodgson’s firm Maurice Blackburn said the apology was posted last night and a full letter of apology had been sent to Dr Haneef.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said after the settlement this week that it covered two matters, including Dr Haneef’s civil claim against the commonwealth and defamation action against Howard government immigration minister Kevin Andrews.

The amount of compensation was subject to a confidentiality agreement along with the rest of the terms of the settlement.

“It’s been a very difficult time for Dr Haneef and his family and I hope today’s settlement goes some way to providing closure to this period of their lives,” he said

 — AAP

Spinners Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha wreaked havoc on a turning track as India recorded one of their most convincing Test wins in recent times by thrashing New Zealand by an innings and 198 runs in third and final Test to clinch the three-match series 1-0 at Nagpur on Tuesday.

Both Harbhajan (3/56) and Ojha (2/67) got appreciable turn and bounce as the Black Caps batsmen literally struggled to stay put on a track that was suddenly looking difficult to bat on. There was sharp turn on offer and some of the balls were also keeping low.

If Harbhajan and Ojha decimated the top-order, Ishant Sharma (3/15) and Suresh Raina (2/1) blasted out the lower order as New Zealand were all out for 175 in only 51.2 overs.

Needing 349 runs to clear the first innings deficit, the visitors needed to show a lot of application but not having encountered appreciable turn and bounce in the previous matches meant that there wasn’t a lot of homework done.

The pressure was immense and Daniel Vettori’s men surrendered meekly with the match lasting barely three and half days.

Brendon McCullum (25), the double centurion of the last Test, on whom Vettori must have depended a lot went back in the 14th over as he missed a ball trying to play on the backfoot. It would have hit the leg stump and Simon Taufel made no mistake in ruling the batsman leg before.

Martin Guptill (0) who has had a woeful Test match saw a delivery from Ojha pitched on the leg stump and turn sharply towards the middle stump finding the batsman’s pads. Taufel took some time before raising his finger as Ojha was in with a hat-trick chance.

At 38 for three, New Zealand were looking down the barrel. Ross Taylor (29) tried to hit the spinners more out of desperation as the noose got tighter. Wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins – certainly not the best among the wicketkeeper batsman who are playing international cricket was the next man out.

VVS Laxman

What a day for India! The Team India clinched a thriller of a match by beating Australia by one wicket in the first of the two test matches Mohali while Gagan Narang and Abhinav Bindra won the first gold medal for the country followed by another gold by Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Samobat in shooting event of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

 VVS Laxman overcame his sore back to become the hero of a nail-biting one-wicket victory for India, who retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in dramatic fashion in Mohali. In one of the most memorable finishes in recent history, Pragyan Ojha picked up two leg-byes off Mitchell Johnson to seal the result, which until that delivery could also have been a tie or an Australian win. Australia 428 and 192; India 405 and 216 for 9.

Ricky Ponting: “It was one of the exciting test matches I have played. Full credit to India; they outplayed us today. We tried our best. It was satisfying effort from the boys. I told them to just take out the scorecard out of the mind. The partnership between Ishant an Laxman was great and it made the difference I guess. Bollinger’s injury probably didnt help us there; we needed a fresh bowler to give it a shake but that’s the game.”

Dhoni: It was one of the best. This game was full of emotions. We lost Ishant in the first innings; the way we bowled in the second and third session was remarkable and that got us back. We could have got the first-inings lead but we didn’t. The bowlers again did well to bowl them out in teh second innings. Our batting collapsed but Laxman and Ishant . . Laxman is a remarkable batsman, whatever a field you set, he can keep scoring. He did a very good job for us. For me it was a very special (innings). We just wanted teh dressing room to be calm and cool. Ishant played loads of deliveries and in between got boundaries as well. It worked out well for us. Frankly speaking, when the game started no one expected we will have a result in 4 and half days. The bowlers from both sides have done well to get a result in this game.”

Man of the match is Zaheer Khan: “Winning is very important; it was a great game of cricket. Both teams fought hard and we did just enough to end up on the winning side. I was just waiting for the ball to reverse; that’s what MS was also waiting. And it did. It worked for me. 250 wicets .. tis been hard work. I am happy that the hard work that I have put in on my fitness over the last 6 weeks has paid off. Everyone were nervous in the dressing room; we tried to remain calm and hoped that the two batters would gets us through.”

In the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Indian men and women shooters on Tuesday hit the bull’s eye to give the country two gold medals. The men also won a silver in the shooting event.

The Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang pair bagged the first gold by shooting a total 1,193 points, breaking their own pair bagged the first gold by shooting a total 1,193 points, breaking their own record of 1,189 points scored at Melbourne games four years ago in the 10m air rifle pair event.

This was followed by the pair of Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Samobat shooting to a gold in 25m pistol event for women. The men’s pair of Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma took home silver in the 50 metres pistol pair event.

With these three medals, India’s tally goes up to 7 – two golds, three silvers and two bronzes behind the top of the table Australia with 4 gold and 3 silver medals.

Sonia Chanu and Suken Dey had bagged silver and Sandhya Rani and V. Srinivas Rao bronze in weightlifting event on Monday, the first day of the competitions.

David Hussey’s determined innings of 59  leading Australia’s recovery for a total of 6-147 notwithstanding England strolled to the trophy table after reaching 3-151 in 17 overs.

South African-born duo Kevin Pietersen (47) and Craig Kieswetter (63) added 117 for England’s second wicket in a match-winning partnership.

Kieswetter was named man of the match and Pietersen, who missed a game during the tournament to attend the birth of his son in London, was player of the series with 248 runs at an average of 62.00.

“Losing those three wickets early certainly didn’t help us and put a lot of pressure on our middle order,” Clarke said.

“But we did well to scrape to 140-odd. In the end we were probably 30 runs short.

“But in saying that, the way England came out and batted we were probably 50 runs short.

“That’s the way it goes. We got beaten by a better team today.”

After Shaun Tait removed Michael Lumb (2) in the second over, leg-spinner Steven Smith and left-armer Mitchell Johnson dismissed Pietersen and Kieswetter in the 14th and 15th overs.

But England settled with skipper Paul Collingwood unbeaten on 12 including the winning boundary and Eoin Morgan 15 not out.Collingwood had invited Australia to bat first and left-armer Ryan Sidebottom (2-26) claimed Shane Watson (2) and Brad Haddin (1) while David Warner (2) was run out.Clarke (27) chipped a catch to rival skipper Paul Collingwood at 4-45 in the 10th over.

Cameron White crunched 30 from 19 balls, adding 50 in a crucial fifth-wicket partnership with David Hussey who was dropped by Stuart Broad at mid-wicket on 25.David Hussey’s 54-ball knock included two fours and two sixes.

The right-hander was run out in the final over after a 47-run partnership with brother Mike who was unbeaten on 17.

Spinner Graeme Swann was economical with 1-17 from his four overs.

Australia would take little comfort in the fact this was a step forward for the team after failing to reach the final in two previous World T20 events.

It’s England’s first win in a major limited-overs trophy event, after making the decider in the Champions Trophy once and the World Cup three times.

The ICC later announced Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin had been fined 10 per cent of his match fee for a violation of the Code of Conduct.

Haddin pleaded guilty to a charge of showing dissent after an umpire’s decision.

He batsman was given out caught behind down leg-side for one off the bowling of paceman Ryan Sidebottom.

But the ball appeared to miss the bat and strike Haddin on the hip and the Australian stood at his crease and pointed to his hip after being dismissed.

By Ashok Kumar

Meeting called by NSW Premier Nathan Rees with the Idian Ccommunity leaders

Even as New South W ales Premier Nathan Rees was telling media persons yesterday about some practical steps having been agreed upon at a meeting between Ministers, agencies and Australian Indian leaders to address any safety concerns held by overseas students, a correspondent flashed a flyer being reportedly distributed in a university asking “overseas students to go back” and “Aussie Unis for Aussies.” Mr. Rees promptly assured the media that the “we will investigate and bring offenders to book.

The Premier, who along with NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, President of the United Indian Association Mrs. Aruna Chandrala broke from the meeting to address the media, urged members of the Indian Community to report all incidents of violence because it helps the Government and Police to identify patterns of behaviour and target resources where they are needed. Continue Reading