Welcome to Australia Blog

Flooding -It all Started in December 2010…..

We knew we were in for a wet one. Summer that is.  However, this season has brought about it’s own far more dramatic weather- Extreme Flooding

In monsoon season here in the tropical North Eastern State of  Australia, Queensland, the heavy rain starts, thunder storms roll in, and can be daily, and days are hot and humid. This is typical Queensland Australian weather. Flooding to such extremes, have happened in the past but no one was really prepared for this.

In December the rain kept coming. Schools broke up for the long summer months and Christmas busyness took over. In the one or two torrential down pours Brisbane city kept moving and kept going. House basements flooded briefly, emergency news reminders reminded every one to gather important papers and documents, a torch, battery powered radio and be ready for the season that lay a head.

We saw the images of Townsville and Rockhampton flooding in horror. We had predicitions of a bad season. Cyclones and storms but I don’t think anyone had an idea that it was going to be this bad.

By the time we ourselves went away to a town called Warwick, south of Brisbane, for a post Christmas break, we were experiencing the flooding too. We were fortunate. We were delayed only briefly travelling to and from Warwick. Parts of the road flooded with creek water, we watched with amazement at the rapidly expanding rivers and wondered whether the bridge would live for another day.

It rained for 2 days and then after 2 days of sunshine the water levels went right back down again.

That’s been typical of many regional/country Queensland areas. Flood waters came, in many cases families evacuated, the water receded, and then returned once more.

Australia in Numbers

These are the numbers for Australia (as per 2009):

When it comes to population, Australia ranks 55 in the world, after Sri Lanka and before Madagascar, with 21.3 million people. About population growth rate, Australia is 112th with 1.20%, same as Algeria. It is 164th for birth rate with 12.47%, which is slightly below France. It is 144th for death rate, which is actually a good news, better than most European countries, with 6.74%.

Life expectancy at birth is 81.63 years, which makes Australia 6th in the world!… after Hong Kong but before Canada.

Net migration rate is 6.23%, which makes it 14th in the world, after Andorra but before Singapore.

Australia is 86th in the world for eductation expenditure… Not so good, even though Australian education rates very well within developed countries.

It is 19 in the world for GDP (purchasing power parity) after Turkey and before Taiwan, with $819 trillion. it is 96 for GDP real growth rate, with 0.80%… and it is 23 for GDP per capita, with $38,500. These are very good numbers for a fairly small population.

Australia is 52nd for unemployment rate with 5.70%. It is 62nd for inflation rate, with 1.90%.

Australia ranks 17 for electricity production and 16 in the world for electricity consumption, after Taiwan and before South Africa. It is 31st for oil production and 20th for oil consumption. It is 36th for oil exports and 18th for oil imports… don’t ask. Australia is 36th for oil proved-reserves. It is 19th for natural gas production and 26th for natural gas consumption. It is 11th for natural gas exports and 30th for natural gas imports. It is 28th for natural gas proved-reserves. Australia is 23rd in the world for exports.

Australia is 23rd for foreign exchange and gold reserves, with $44.5 billions. It is 11th for external debt, with $920 billions. Australia is 11th in the world for market value of publicly traded shares, after Russia and before Switzerland, with $1.3 trillion.

Australia is 36th for number of mobile phones in use, with 22.1 million, which is more that one per capita. It is 10th in the world for number of Internet hosts, with 11.8 millions of them. It is 24th in the world for number of Internet users, with 15.2 millions.

Australia is 17th in the world for the number of airports, with 464 of them, which comes just after France. Australia is 7th in the world the the amount of railway, just after Germany and before Argentina. It is 9th in the world for the amount of roadways, after Russia and before Spain.

In summary, good health and good wealth in Australia…

These numbers come from CountriesLE free iPhone application.

The Smuggler – Australia seeks to combat people smuggling.

A fast-paced and dramatic video, The Smuggler, that depicts Australian authorities tracking and arresting people involved in financing and supporting people smuggling activities is the latest installment in the Australian Government’s attempts to shut down people smuggling operations.

The video, along with several others, appears on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s (DIAC) dedicated No to People Smuggling YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/notopeoplesmuggling

The Smuggler, shot and produced within DIAC, highlights tough new laws passed recently in Australia to combat people smuggling.

The laws target those who finance or provide support for people smuggling activities as well as provide for strong penalties, underlining the seriousness of these offences.

The new laws contain penalties of up to 20 years’ imprisonment if convicted and also targets those who send money overseas that aids people smuggling with a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

“Those considering seeking asylum in Australia must follow lawful channels and pursue ordered methods of migration,” a DIAC spokesman said.

“There are safe and lawful visa options for people wanting to resettle in Australia, including humanitarian resettlement or sponsorship by relatives already here.

“The Smuggler demonstrates in graphic detail the resources that agencies in Australia have at their disposal to monitor, arrest and ultimately prosecute those involved in people smuggling activities.

“It highlights that authorities monitor and prosecute not just people smugglers and their associates but also people who support these activities such as those sending money overseas to friends and relatives to finance efforts to come to Australia using people smugglers.

“No to People Smuggling is an important tool in the Australian Government’s efforts to discourage asylum seekers from making the dangerous trip to Australia by boat.

“It is proving a successful tool to reach asylum seekers’ families and friends in Australia to highlight the grim realities and risks in engaging with people smugglers.

“The tragic and unnecessary loss of five lives at sea on an Australian-bound vessel in May this year was a grim reminder of the realities of making the dangerous trip to Australia at the hands of people smugglers,” the spokesman added.

Hung Parliament and now at last a new Government.

Julia Gillard, Australia’s Prime Minister has kept the Labor Party in power by the skin of her teeth. Having ousted Kevin Rudd to become the country’s first female prime minister just 3 months ago, she’s now under pressure to prove her worth.

Neither Labor nor the Liberal-National party impressed the Australian public. Public debate focused on the need for a deal between the mining giants and the government – a tax on super profits, commitment to fight climate change and to straighten out immigration policies.

How to manage illegal immigrants and refugees and then decide what professional and business migrants Australia needs and wants, is still at large. Currently the migration department is rumored to be at breaking point with influxes of illegal immigrants and refugees.

Related Stories:
www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s3014140.htm
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/greens-inspect-darwin-detention-centres-20100916-15ehs.html

Tags: News

The Australian Future Skills List – Where is it?

Guest Blogger: Embrace Australia
So what has happened to the Australian Future Skills List that we were promised back in December? As Australian visa applicants drum their fingers impatiently, waiting for news on the FSL we take a look at what could have gone wrong.

The Critical Skills List (CSL) was introduced back in January 2009 in order to prioritise those applications with occupations that were desperately needed to fill the skills shortages Australia was experiencing at the time.

The CSL was meant to update the rather outdated MODL and closely represent real skill shortages all over Australia. If you had a skill that was in the MODL you still had a strong application, but if your skill was in the CSL it meant that your application would be processed a lot quicker.

The CSL was meant to work in harmony with the Australian states own critical skills list, however some of their skilled occupations in demand are not on the CSL. For instance Western Australia has included Production Manager on their skills in demand list and have even noted: “The shortage appears to be most severe for mining production managers with underground hard rock experience relevant to the Australian mining industry.” Yet the Critical Skills List does not list Production Manager as an occupation in demand.

At the time of the CSL’s introduction however, Senator Chris Evans, the Minister for Australian Immigration and Citizenship, reassured applicants that the CSL does indeed work closely with the state governments: “The Critical Skills List will be reviewed regularly, in consultation with the States and Territories, industry and unions to ensure that it remains valid and current in the changing circumstances.”

Then came September 23rd and new regulations for priority processing which meant that if you had managed to get state-sponsorship but did not have an occupation on the Australian Government’s CSL, your visa application would not receive priority. That means that Western Australia would have to wait for its Production Managers. Rather a monumental mistake by the government surely, since Western Australia is currently going through a mining boom. The wait would not be a short one either as applicants were told by the DIAC that their visa applications might not now be finalised for up to three years.

The Future Skills List is proposed to reflect more accurately the skills that are in severe demand, much as the CSL was meant to do. The government may use it in an attempt to ‘save face’, thereby ensuring that state skills in demand are included on the FSL, or they may not. It’s difficult to tell without more information. However the FSL is intended to replace both the MODL and the CSL, the latter being phased out slowly.

But where, you may ask, is this Future Skills List? The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) had stated that it expected to announce the FSL back in December. But there was no word from the DIAC about it. Now we are into January and all across the internet, Australian migration forums are all echoing with the same question – where is it?

Susan Wareham McGrath a migration agent and member of the Embrace Australia community has this to say on the subject of the missing FSL: “DIAC originally intended to announce the results of the MODL Review in December 2009 after it had gone to Parliament. It wasn’t able to meet that timeframe and Parliament will next sit between 2 and 11 February. Hopefully, things will progress soon after that, but it depends on the Order of Business during the sitting. If it doesn’t make it during the February sitting, Parliaments next sitting will be 9 – 18 March.”
“Unfortunately, all we can do at this stage is “watch this space” and keep an eye on the daily Order of Business and Hansard between 2 – 11 February.”

So there you go, hopefully all will be revealed this month and speculation about the occupations that will appear on the FSL will be put to rest. No doubt many Category 5 applicants will be hoping that the government have taken notice of the skills shortages in many regional states of Australia and that the FSL accurately reflects these shortages. If not then it’s back to the drawing board for many frustrated Australia visa applicants.

Join Embrace Australia for regular updates and news on Australian immigration.

Dual citizenship

Guest Blogger: John

• Strong family links
• Strong financial links
• Strong work links

Reasons for the additional citizenship can be:

• Difficulty or impossibility to develop a career in your field
• Major discount(s) in student’s fees
• Family with Australian citizenship, especially children

Sharks not far off shore…….Bondi beach that is.

An Australian costal website just posted these images of hundreds of sharks cruising around Bondi Beach REALLY CLOSE TO SHORE…….If you are thinking of immigrating to Australia to live in Bondi, you might not want to see this…..

Ask not what Australia can do for You…

But what you can do for Australia… Does the skilled migration visa hint at this? Is this just typical migration conditions anywhere?

When immigrating to Australia on a skilled migration visa you come with:

• your skills/education and work experience,
• a willingness to be a self starter – find a home, job, schools, circle of friends, community/church life to connect to,
• the drive & desire to build a life,
• the ability to contribute and participate in social and community activities so as to be accepted,
• the capacity to shoulder the risk of moving,
• the stamina to cope during the unsettling early months/years until you start to feel a sense of home, (for some this can take longer than others)

In addition, you may be expected to take on a heavy work load at work. Skills are short locally you know.

You may find that you will be the one with the need for a greater social (support/friendship) network – so you initiate the social and group activities to ensure your sanity.

Let me know…what do you know?