Will Changes to Australian visas still be made under new PM?

September 25, 2013
Will Changes to Australian visas still be made under new PM?

The potential changes to Australian visa and immigration laws have been well documented in recent months. A total of 457 visas were going to be altered under a new reform. The majority of these visas were going to be made tougher to obtain. That meant more stringent regulations and an increase in price, which would make them harder for potential employers to obtain. 

The changes were due to made under the previous Prime Minister, and now they could be reversed under new PM Tony Abbott.

Australian visa changes to be put on hold?

The new Prime Minister, who will be sworn in shortly, claimed in his election campaign that he wanted to make migration a "central plank" of his policy. If this is the case, it is widely believed that the changes to the 457 visas will at the very least be put on hold until they can be fully reviewed by his cabinet. In any case, it is widely expected that most of the edits will be rejected. 

Many experts in the field say that it is more than likely Abbott will scrap almost all the changes. The new changes would have made it much harder for successful Indian visa applications for Australia as the number of migrants required in Australia would have significantly decreased as companies would have no/little reason to source applicants from other countries if the visas were more expensive and tougher to obtain.

Potential visa changes to be reversed

Abbott has previously stated that the 457 migration visa program would need to be micro-managed to have any chance of being successful under the previous government. He also stated that visas offered the chance to find skilled workers who were not available in the Australian labour market. Furthermore, when asked about the 457 visa program earlier this year he said that it was something that was giving him "deep concern". This gives an indication that he will more than likely reverse the potential changes.

Gina Rinehart (an Iron Ore magnate) has told the new government that they need to fix Australia's economic issues. She says that the country is currently over relying on the mining sector, and it needs to look elsewhere. She stated that the mining sector was "propping the country up" and without it, Australia could have found itself in the same position as Greece.
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