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    Immigration

    Today

    Dutton to slash migrant intake, ban foreign property buyers

    The opposition leader has vowed to slash permanent migration by a quarter to 140,000 a year, cut refugee arrivals by a third, and ban foreign investors buying established homes for two years, in a bid to free up 100,000 properties. Watch live.

    • 34 mins ago
    • Phillip Coorey

    Migration hit would ‘destroy’ $48b education export sector

    Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan to slash Australia’s annual permanent migrant intake from 185,000 to 140,000 would deliver a near fatal blow to the country’s fourth-largest export.

    • Julie Hare
    Jobs growth, immigration back under control: Chalmers
    0:32

    Jobs growth, immigration back under control: Chalmers

    Delivering his 2024 budget speech, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Labor has delivered record jobs growth, wages growth is back in the black, and immigration will be half what it was last year.

    • Updated

    Yesterday

    RSM Australia’s Jessica Olivier is an immigration success story.

    Careful return to migration trends needed, Labor urged

    Efforts to better manage immigration levels must not undercut the university sector and efforts to address skilled worker shortages across the economy, experts say.

    • Tom McIlroy

    This Month

    Backpackers from China, Vietnam and India will be subject to a lottery to qualify for a visa.

    Backpackers from China, India, Vietnam caught in migration crackdown

    The government expects to halve migration levels by next year, with international students bearing the brunt of measures.

    • Julie Hare, Michael Read and Tom McIlroy
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    International students are less welcome as a result of government migration reforms.

    ‘Horrible on every level’: Universities object to migration changes

    Changes to limit the number of foreign students at educational colleges, universities and schools are highly interventionist and prescribe not only where students can study but what they can learn, providers said.

    • Updated
    • Julie Hare

    Why did Labor drop a big policy change at 6pm last Friday?

    While the media scrambled to get across a housing announcement late Friday, the government quietly dropped long-awaited changes to foreign student numbers.

    • Phillip Coorey
    Minister for Immigration Andrew Giles.

    High Court hands Labor rare win on immigration detention

    Immigration Minister Andrew Giles welcomed the ruling in the case of the man known as ASF17, who says he would face persecution if he was sent back to Iran.

    • Updated
    • Tom McIlroy
    Message from the bench: the current High Court (from left) - Justice Jayne Jagot, Justice Simon Steward, Justice Michelle Gordon, Chief Justice Stephen Gageler, Justice James Edelman, Justice Jacqueline Gleeson and Justice Robert Beech-Jones.

    No more gaming the system, says High Court

    The High Court has sent a clear message: those “manipulating the system” won’t be rewarded with a get-out-of-detention free card.

    • Michael Pelly
    Holding up construction: Australia has too few workers to build the homes it needs. But it also has a productivity problem, economists say.

    Government’s $91m tradie plan only ‘modest’ boost for home building

    Australia’s target of 1.2 million new homes is a crisis of surging demand and a construction workforce facing its own demographic challenges.

    • Updated
    • Michael Bleby
    Chinese students are not suffering the same visa knock back rates as those from other countries.

    Chinese do better than others in student visa crackdown

    Nearly every Chinese student who applies for a visa to study at an Australian university gets approved. It’s a different story for others.

    • Julie Hare
    One of the men arrested at the weekend over a violent home robbery of elderly Perth couple Ninette and Philip Simons had been released from immigration detention last November as part of a controversial High Court ruling.

    PM blames DPP, bureaucrats for Perth couple bashing, detainee debacle

    The Coalition has accused the government of duck-shoving accountability for its pledge to keep the community safe.

    • Phillip Coorey
    Appeals against student visa refusals have more than doubled in a year.

    Foreign students flood appeals tribunal to stay longer

    Many student hopefuls who have had their visa application rejected are appealing the decision, often as a means to extend their stay.

    • Updated
    • Julie Hare
    Palestinian agricultural workers are being replaced by people from places such as India and Thailand following the October 7 attacks.

    Why Indian workers head to war zones, from Israel to Russia

    The promise of well-paid jobs is too strong a lure to resist, despite the lack of protection from their home government and those they work under.

    • Swetasree Ghosh Roy

    April

    Sydney was ranked as the 10th most desirable city for expats.

    Australia named top destination in the world for expats

    Australia has been named the No.1 destination in the world for professionals seeking to relocate internationally. 

    • Euan Black
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    Using housing as a reason to crackdown on foreign students is misguided.

    Blaming students for housing crisis ‘simplistic’, universities say

    A new report finds that conflating international students with the housing shortage is opportunistic and could have profound ramifications on the economy.

    • Julie Hare
    Ninette Simons is still recovering after the terrifying ordeal on April 17.

    Albanese tries to shift blame on alleged attack by freed detainee

    Labor is under fresh pressure over its management of immigration detainees set free by the High Court after the alleged bashing of a Perth grandmother.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Students at Sydney University: The Albanese government is mindful of damaging the international student industry.

    Government baulks at hard caps on foreign student numbers

    The Albanese government is shying away from a Canadian-style hard cap on foreign student numbers and will opt for more nuanced measures to control migration.

    • Phillip Coorey and Julie Hare
    International student Mai Le says her goal is to achieve permanent residency after she graduates.

    Steep rise in student visa rejections ‘scaring applicants away’

    News of the federal government’s clampdown on student visas is spreading far and wide and the US is becoming the destination of choice.

    • Julie Hare
    Overseas student numbers have dropped perilously at Federation University.

    Mass lay-offs at regional uni as international enrolments slump 90pc

    Federation University in Victoria could be the canary in the coal mine as its international student enrolments dive.

    • Julie Hare