April 2024 E-Newsletters

On 25 April, along with Australians everywhere, we will gather to remember those who have served to defend Australia. We do this because it is the anniversary of the day when Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed on the beach at Gallipoli in Türkiye on 25 April 1915. This was the first major military campaign for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand.  

Since then, 25 April has been known as Anzac Day. ‘Anzac’ comes from the name Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.  

At Gallipoli, Australians and New Zealanders served with soldiers from other nations, including England, France and India. The Australians at Gallipoli came from all sorts of backgrounds, but they shared the terrible experience of war. Ever since then, for more than a hundred years, the men and women in our navy, army and air force have honoured the memory of our original Anzacs. 

On Anzac Day, there are many ways to honour people who have served, and those who continue to serve, in Australia’s armed forces, and all those affected by war. You may attend a dawn service, remember and chat about family members who have served or been displaced by war, wear a sprig of rosemary (for remembrance), even go to the football and observe a minute’s silence. 

Local Anzac Day Events 

• Sunday 21 April, 10.30 am, Prahran RSL event, Victoria Gardens, High St Prahran 

• Sunday 21 April, 2 pm, City of Glen Eira Anzac Day Service, at the Caulfield Park Cenotaph, corner Hawthorn and Balaclava Roads, Caulfield North. Book online

• Thursday 25 April, 6 am, Dawn Service, East Malvern RSL, Stanley Grose Dr, Malvern East  

I am frequently contacted by local businesses needing skilled workers and families seeking to reunite, seeking assistance with visas. The immigration system is far from perfect, but we are striving to fix it so that it works in the national interest making our businesses and communities stronger.  

Australia is a proud multicultural nation that has welcomed migrants from all over the world. I am one myself, coming to Australia as a child with parents who came on the skilled business migration pathway from Zambia. Everywhere I go, I meet people touched by migration from families to 4-year-olds in our local kinder who describe their parents or grandparents coming from far and wide. Our country has been built on waves of migration and is richer for it. 
 

Migration is central to Australia’s national story and in times of change, migration has helped Australia tackle national challenges and build long periods of prosperity and security. One in two Australians was either born overseas or has a parent who was born overseas and in Higgins, 32% of residents were born overseas. Foreign Minister Penny Wong in a recent speech 'Securing our Future’ describes our multiculturalism as one element in our national power, with others being our economic strength and our domestic resilience. 

The pandemic brought changes to migration figures. It virtually halted in the 2020/2021 financial year and rebounded from 2022. Temporary visa holders and working holiday markers made up 51% and 13% respectively of the intake and far fewer people left Australia than expected, accounting for the high numbers when our borders re-opened. With the reforms we are introducing, we expect migration numbers to decline in 2024/2025.

Already there are encouraging signs with foreign student arrivals hitting a 10-year low and departures at a 5-year high. The cancellation of the Covid-19 visa means that students will not be allowed to work fulltime. We have also banned education agents from earning commissions by helping students to switch courses and institutions. Tougher visa controls have made it harder for universities and colleges to recruit students from certain overseas markets.  

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics: 

Due to the impact of COVID-19 travel restrictions, there were very low numbers of temporary migrants arriving in Australia during the pandemic. For those who have arrived since the restrictions were lifted, many have not yet been here long enough to conclude their stay and return home. 

Prior to the pandemic there was a constant flow of temporary migrants arriving and departing. This cycle is not yet back to a regular pattern and low departures have had an upward impact on net overseas migration in 2022-23. 

Many of those now arriving on temporary visas however, such as international students, will start to leave as their studies finish over the coming years, which will have a downward impact on net overseas migration in the future.   

There is great concern that migration is exacerbating our current housing shortage. It is a pressure but not the main issue which is a structural lack of housing supply with dwellings built peaking in 2016-17 and falling ever since – a decline we are attempting to reverse through a suite of policies and collaborative, rather than divisive, politics with the states.   

Various reviews have been conducted. 

• Over September 2022 to March 2023 Dr Martin Parkinson (Chancellor of Macquarie University and former Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Secretary to the Treasury) conducted a comprehensive review of Australia's migration system to ensure it better meets existing challenges and sets a clear direction for the coming decades.  

• The Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia’s Visa System conducted by former Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon (March 2023) made recommendations to combat individuals lodging unmeritorious claims for asylum and staying in Australia for many years while claims were considered; vocational students withdrawing from courses but remaining in the country; and sexual trafficking of vulnerable migrants by criminal syndicates. 

•  Mr Dennis Richardson (Former Director-General of ASIO, Australian Ambassador to the US and Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) completed a Review of Integrity Concerns and Governance Arrangements for the Management of Regional Processing Administration over August to October 2023. 

Labor is acting on the recommendations of these reviews to fix the system. 

In December 2023, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles announced a new Migration Strategy for Australia. This Migration Strategy was developed with extensive consultation with business, unions and other stakeholders, and after more than 450 submissions. The Strategy is designed to return Australia’s net immigration rate to sustainable levels and to introduce long term planning to the migration system. 

In brief we are: 

• Closing COVID loopholes left behind by the former Government 

• Strengthening integrity and lifting standards in international education 

• Ending settings that lead to long-term temporary stays 

• Tackling the exploitation of the visa system 

• Targeting skilled migration to genuine shortages in the economy. 

Over time this much-needed strategy will   

• ensure that immigration meets the skills needs of our nation 

• prevent worker exploitation and  

• give employers confidence that they will be supported if they do the right thing.  

As policies are refined, please be mindful of the division and hurt created by comments critical of migrants. A thoughtful debate sensitive to the people around us is important. At a time when our social cohesion is under strain, let us stay united in appreciating the nation-building role immigration to Australia plays. 

How to Report Maltreatment of NDIS Participants 

The maltreatment of NDIS participants by unethical providers is not something we as a government, community or country will tolerate. Since the Albanese Government took office, the number of people working in the disability watchdog has doubled, and compliance actions have skyrocketed as a result. Banning orders against disability support providers have more than doubled. 
 
I encourage you to report abuse and neglect to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission: 
 
Phone: 1800 035 544 
Email: [email protected] 
Website:  www.ndiscommission.gov.au

Financial Services Misconduct Compensation Scheme Up and Running 

The Albanese Government is providing victims of financial services misconduct with access to compensation.  

The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) is now beginning to process claims for compensation payments from eligible consumers.   

The Scheme provides compensation of up to $150,000 to eligible consumers who have an unpaid determination from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).   

The Scheme was first proposed by the 2017 Ramsay Review, supported by the Banking Royal Commission, but was not delivered by the former Liberal Government.  

The Government is delivering on its election commitment to establish the CSLR, finalising one of the last outstanding recommendations of the Royal Commission.   

We stand with consumers to ensure there are robust protections in place for them. 

See Home | CSLR

• everyone aged 65 and over
• First Nations people 50 years and over, and
• immunocompromised people 18 years and over.

In the spirit of levelling the playing field, I am pleased to announce the $200 million “Play our Way” program to support girls and women in sport. 
 
The Program will be run as an open, competitive grant for local governments, community organisations, the not-for-profit sector and sporting organisations. 

The Grants will be from a minimum of $50,000 up to a maximum of $1,500,000.

Note that our current office in Malvern Road will be unattended across Thursday 18 to Monday 22 April, so please make contact only by phone or email on those three business days. 

The new office address is Suite 1.03, Level 1, 261 to 271 Wattletree Road Malvern. 

Phone number unchanged: 03 9822 4422 

Email address unchanged: [email protected]