The Productivity Commission has slammed the proposal which was initially forwarded by the Liberal Democratic Senator David Leyonhjelmand, by saying that selling the visas to the wealthy foreigners is not going to work well for Australia.
According to the initial analysis of the Commission revealed that granting out the visas that are mainly based on the price will lead to the short term gain in the income to the Australian government but at the same time they can put the long-term negative economic consequences.
According to the Commissioner Paul Lindwall, the demographic composition of the immigrant really matters. Australia shall be seeking the skilled migrants who can positively contributes to the labor force and also facilitate to lessen the impact of our ageing population.
Immigration is the defining feature of the Australia with over one in four Australians is born abroad.
The Commission suggest that the charge of $35,000 to $45,000 per individual will maintain the recent yearly intake of the permanent migrant to the figure of 1,90,000.
But this system will minimize the skilled immigrants’ numbers and importantly raise the number who presently will not meet the required conditions under the existing skill and family visa classes. And the prospect returns from the revenues generated by the immigrants may not be that fine.
According to the report, charging the higher price for the visas will likely generate the higher government charge income relative to the present levels.
Under this all important Investor Visa Scheme, the applicant should invest a minimum of $5 million in Australia for four years to obtain a visa. However, the commission is watchful about economic profit of this scheme.
The commission said that it is not obvious that the benefits surpass the costs of giving away the valuable asset i.e. permanent residency in Australia.
The commission’s Intake on Migrants in Australia publication is a draft reports, and it would take submissions before it issues the concluding report in March 2016.
