Father Christmas granted Business Visa (subclass 456)

Today is not only Sunday Funday, but also the last Sunday before Christmas.

This is a news item from last year, but as a recurring event, I believe it still has relevance today. Enjoy!

(The Possie will be on holiday from now until January 11 2010)

Sudanese AFL rookie becomes a Kangaroo

Majak Daw, who came to Australia from a refugee background, is the first player of Sudanese origin to be recruited in the AFL rookie draft.

He was recruited by North Melbourne with its first-round pick (which seems to mean he is very good – I think?).

The North Melbourne Football Club has also recently opened  a Learning and Life Centre on their grounds.

The Centre for Multicultural Youth was involved in planning the centre.

The aims of the Centre are to “provide positive educational, multicultural and healthy living programs involving teachers and NMFC players”. These include curriculum-based school topics for visiting students, after-hours ‘homework classes’ for local youth, community organisations such as Melbourne Aboriginal Youth, Sport and Recreation, Victoria Police and the Heart Foundation to run programs in the Centre, and community groups are able to book parts of the facility for functions. NMFC  Learning and Life Centre

The media, not the Immigration Department, panics international students PR

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald Visa review may ‘spark panic’ is, surprise surprise (!) itself sparking panic among international students in Australia.

Google that headline, and the majority of hits are in Chinese –reflecting the numbers of Chinese students in Australia who came here in the hope and expectation of gaining permanent residency at the end of their studies.

The SMH article leads with this:

“TENS of thousands of overseas students studying expensive courses in Australia in the hope of securing permanent residency could be sent home empty-handed under changes being considered by the Federal Government.

“The Herald has obtained a document prepared by the Immigration Department recommending changes ”in the relationship between the lodgement of an application and the legal obligation to grant a visa”.

In other words, the media is again inciting a panic where the factual basis is very thin. ‘A change in the relationship’ could mean almost anything, and, as the Herald article says, way down in the body of the text:

“A spokesman for the department said the document was part of a consultation process and no decision would be made on the changes until next year.”

Note: ‘Consultation’ means consultation. Not decision.

The Interim Report of the Review of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 that was conducted by Bruce Baird of the review of the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 has recently been released, and will be part of the consultation. Baird doesn’t suggest that the link between studying and migration be broken or even weakened, and for any changes to be  grandfathered where possible.

The Senate Committee Report into the Welfare of International Students, which will also be consulted, gives the ‘Committee view’ as

2.24     The committee accepts the evidence that over time a perception has developed that a student visa may provide an automatic pathway to permanent residency, despite this not being the case. This perception has in turn been exploited by some education agents and providers who have used the perception of permanent residency to recruit students and then provide them with inadequate education or training.

2.25      The committee endorses steps that have been taken to ensure that international students coming to Australia to study are fully cognisant of the rules that apply to them and make it clear that separate and distinct processes are involved and that the requirements for permanent residency visas change from time to time in response to the requirements of the labour market.

2.26      In most cases, exploitation starts overseas with expectations fuelled by unscrupulous education agents advertising courses solely as a means to permanent residency. Regulation of providers and quality are discussed in chapter four and agents are discussed in more detail in chapter five.

Unanimous: international students need better conditions

The Senate Committee Report ‘Inquiry Welfare of International Students’ has been released.  The report does not directly address the issue of attacks on students,  and does not agree with suggestions that many of the attacks on Indian students were racially motivated, but makes recommendations that address student safety through initiatives that include  improved information about rights and supports available.

As Andrew Bartlett points out, the report is unanimous across all the political parties represented, and while this unanimity does sacrifice some strength of opinion, it also means that it will be harder for the government to ignore the findings. Senate committee reports on international students issue

A few findings:

More flexibility in number of hours available to work each week (currently limited to 20) and a less draconian response when the rule is broken (if a student is caught working more than this in a week, they are likely to have their visa cancelled, even if it is a one-off)

Concessions to be available for international students on public transport

Develop a comparative information tool on education providers. This information tool should differentiate between the capacity of providers by comparing such things as the level and quality of support services available to students.

Opposition OUTRAGED by heat

The latest news from Christmas Island:

Christmas Island’s detention facilities reached their capacity of 1,400 regular beds last Thursday, and now about 60 asylum seekers are now being housed in tents..

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison is outraged.

“I think it’s outrageous that we’re in a situation now that we’ve had so many boat arrivals that these people will have to spend these hot summer months under tents” he said. Anger as asylum seekers housed in tents

Firstly, I reckon that someone who has escaped the Taliban, fled using dodgy people smugglers, and sailed to Australia on a ramshackle fishing boat skippered by people who have never sailed that far before is not going to worry too much about being HOT!

Secondly, if Mr Morrison is concerned that the asylum seekers might suffer because they have to sleep in tents, how can he support the return of the Temporary Protection Visa that drove people mad and drove them to suicide with its inhumane conditions? TPV agonyScott Morrison is

An asylum Christmas carol to sing while you shop

An Asylum Christmas Carol, originally written in the Howard/Ruddock era. Who knew we would need to dust it off once more?

Here it is, with some minor changes, for your enjoyment on this Sunday Funday.

Happy shopping!

“I saw three ships come sailing in to Christmas Bay, to Christmas Bay

I saw three ships come sailing in to Christmas Bay in the morning.

And what was in these ships all three in Christmas Bay, in Christmas Bay,

A half a thousand refugees in Christmas Bay in the morning

And what were they all looking for in Christmas Bay, in Christmas Bay,

They sought a friendly foreign shore in Christmas Bay in the morning

But on the way we turned them round from Christmas Bay, from Christmas Bay,

Piss off you bastards, Ho ho ho, in Christmas Bay in the morning

It matters not from where you’ve come to Christmas Bay, to Christmas Bay,

It’s peace on earth, goodwill to some, in Christmas Bay in the morning”

Lebanese, Vietnamese or Sudanese? We don’t want your business.

Notes from the pointy end of settlement:

Speaking with an insurance salesman yesterday who is interested in selling to new settlers:

‘We are also obliged to manage our risk. That means evaluating clients as well as property.

For example, head office has told me not to sell to Lebanese, Vietnamese or Sudanese.’

What does Abbott intend to do to boat people: Kill them?

A dark cloud has gathered over my head in the past few days, and its name is Abbott’s Liberals (shame that they further besmirch such and honourable adjective!).

Work ‘choices’, climate denial, and a harder line on asylum seekers. But what can a harder line be?

I have written about Sharman Stone’s hardline rants, but  apparently she is a moderate:

“It will be essential that the moderates that remain in the party continue to steer through the middle ground, ensuring that the real grassroots of the party continues to build in multicultural communities,” Dr Stone said. “

Immigration was so difficult because you were sandwiched between the left and the right wing of the party. I happened to believe that I was steering the right path and I had a lot of support for that, including, of course, from the leader at the time.” Liberals steer to the right on boats

As blogger Armagnac Daddy (yes, that’s the name!) says, how much more draconian could the Liberal policy be?

“Do they want to kill them? I’m being serious, there’s not much left. Do they want us to finally, once and for all, dump the Convention itself and its core rule of non refoulement? Just send people back to war zones, overt oppression, torture, genocide, whatevs?”

Video of the shocking truth about Afghan Hazara refugees

Zareen Tag is a woman from the Hazara ethnic group in Afghanistan. Nearly all of the Afghans who have arrived by boat in Australia since 1999 come from group.

Zareen returned to Afghanistan in 2004 to record some of the history of persecution that the Hazaras have suffered.

The video she made is shocking, and explains completely why so many Hazaras have fled.

Remember too that when Zareen filmed this, it was a time of comparative peace in Afghanistan. Things have become much worse in the last two years.

Does racism justify violence? ;-)

It is Sunday Funday – but today is also Cuteday!

Cats are one of the most popular hits on the internet, so let’s join in!