NSW hopes they can help boost skills and investment
By Jonathan Pearlman, The Straits Times, 7 Apr 2012
By Jonathan Pearlman, The Straits Times, 7 Apr 2012
SYDNEY: Australia's largest state, New South Wales, is planning to lure thousands of 'high-value' migrants to Sydney to help boost skills and investment.
The proposal would reverse years of resistance to expanding the population of Australia's biggest city but prompted immediate backlash from critics who believe Sydney is already bursting at the seams.
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell, whose Liberal-led government was elected last year after 16 years in opposition, plans to quadruple the intake of skilled migrants - from 1,750 to 7,200 - and extend post-study work rights for international students. Under the proposals, business migrants could also have their visas extended from four to eight years.
While Australia's overall migration allowances are set by the federal government, states can request certain numbers and types of migrants, and sponsor a specific number of skilled migrants.
For years, NSW's intake has been very low: It takes 7.5 per cent of all skilled migrants even though its population of 7.2 million is about a third of the country's population.
NSW's Minister for Trade and Investment, Mr Andrew Stoner, wants to make it easier for foreign skilled workers and business people to move to the state and invest in it. He rejected a claim by the former Labor premier Bob Carr, now the federal Foreign Minister, that Sydney's population is big enough.
'Bob Carr said Sydney is full, but it's a city that has always been a magnet for people,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
'We want the best and brightest from around the world to help fill skills shortages and turn our economy around... Overseas migrants, foreign students and visitors to NSW help establish international relationships which support our cultural and economic links.'
Mr Stoner said business migrants provide experience, international connections, entrepreneurial skills and capital which 'strengthen the economic vitality and diversity of the state'.
'To boost economic activity in NSW, we would like the state's allocation of state- and territory- sponsored skilled migrants increased to around 30 per cent, in line with our share of the economy and population,' he said.
The NSW government has welcomed recent moves to extend the work rights of international students but wants to extend the rights to those not at universities too. Under changes reported in The Straits Times in Singapore last week, foreign university students will now be able to work 40 hours a fortnight.
The office of the federal Immigration Minister said it was discussing the new proposals for attracting skilled migrants and students with the NSW government but it was too early to say whether the measures would be approved.
'We are aware of the issues that have been raised and we're certainly talking to them about it,' a spokesman told The Straits Times.
The state's proposals were outlined in a report released this month by the state government.
'As strong economic growth continues in emerging key markets in the Asia-Pacific, investment flows from those areas will become increasingly important to NSW,' the report said. 'NSW stands to gain from economic growth and increase in income and wealth levels across Asia if we can respond to this opportunity by presenting appropriate investor visa requirements.'
The report includes plans to make it easier for migrants who make large investments in the state - more than A$750,000 (S$973,000) - to receive visas and to seek permanent residency. Few people have taken up this investment visa in NSW - just 77 in 2010-11 and 60 in 2009-10.
The state government will also discuss with the Commonwealth the possibility of a new visa targeting investors in NSW.
But critics said Sydney can barely handle a population of 4.5 million and would need big improvements to transport and planning before expanding.
Entrepreneur and business leader Dick Smith said Sydney should limit its population or it 'could end up like Mumbai or Tokyo'.
He said: 'Sydney is now at a population sweet point where we have a very good quality of life. We can consolidate now to provide better transport and infrastructure. If we raise the population, we'll never catch up.'
But the proposals were welcomed by the state's top business body, the NSW Business Chamber. 'NSW needs to become more active in making clear that the state welcomes skilled migrants, investor migrants and visitors undertaking international education,' said the chamber's chief executive, Mr Stephen Cartwright.
A director of Deloittes Access Economics, Mr James Allnutt, said population growth would provide a base for more economic growth and 'on another level, a more cosmopolitan attitude'.
A director of Deloittes Access Economics, Mr James Allnutt, said population growth would provide a base for more economic growth and 'on another level, a more cosmopolitan attitude'.
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