Showing papers in "People and place in 1999"
TL;DR: Ghassan Hage as discussed by the authors argues that public concern about immigration stems from the distress that white Australians feel in the face of their declining power in multicultural Australia, and draws the two phenomena together.
Abstract: Both MairiAnne Mackenzie and Alastair Davidson (this issue) comment on the relationship between immigration and multiculturalism. The following extract is reprinted with permission from the last seven pages for Ghassan Hage’s new book, White Nation. It draws the two phenomena together and argues that public concern about immigration stems from the distress that ‘White Australians’ feel in the face of their declining power in multicultural Australia. The term ‘White’ stands for people of European origin while the term ‘Third World-looking’ people denotes most of the rest.
1,712 citations
TL;DR: The implications of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration (JSCM) report on the labor market impact of Working Holiday Makers and "backpackers" in Australia are presented and future policy concerning these groups is cited.
Abstract: This article presentS the implications of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration (JSCM) report on the labor market impact of Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) and "backpackers" in Australia and cites future policy concerning these groups. WHMs are foreign nationals between the ages of 18 and 30 years with a Working Holiday visa while backpackers are international visitors who spend at least one night in a hostel type accommodation. The JSCM report found through estimated expenditures which average $8230 per WHM that the WHMs program had contributed a great deal to the Australian economy. About 40-60% of this spending comes from the earnings of paid employment in Australia. Furthermore WHMs are an important source of supplementary labor for industries requiring short-term casual workers such as the horticultural industry. In terms of adverse labor market impacts on Australians the JSCM report cites evidence of unfavorable practices such as employers refusing to employ or commit to train Australians for jobs under-award wages to WHMs and providing substandard employment conditions. The JSCM report makes 41 detailed recommendations covering the focus and rationale for the program research needs visa conditions and compliance measures health taxation and superannuating charge issues and action to address the role of the WHM in the two problem industries of horticulture and tourism.
22 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of data from the 1996 Census of six Melbourne localities suggests that some recent explanations for spatial concentrations of the poor in metropolitan areas are incomplete.
Abstract: Analysis of data from the 1996 Census of six Melbourne localities suggests that some recent explanations for spatial concentrations of the poor in metropolitan areas are incomplete. In these middle-suburban locations the better-off are moving out leaving behind those with less resources. While people of Australian or English-speaking background are more likely than those of non-English-speaking background (NESB) to leave the inflow from overseas is predominantly of poor NESB people. Together these two processes are adding to the spatial concentrations of the poor in Melbourne. (EXCERPT)
16 citations
TL;DR: Demographic projections show that the proportion of the population aged 65 and over is likely to double over the next fifty years, and there are three reasons for the ageing of Australia's population.
Abstract: The ageing of Australia’s population is inevitable. Immigration could increase the size of the population substantially but still have little effect on the age structure. If policy makers want to minimise the proportion aged 65 and over without adding large numbers of extra people, it would be more effective to adopt policies that raised fertility. Previous article ends on p. 18
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15 citations
TL;DR: This article reviewed the major categories of temporary visas and particularly considered the specialty H-1B visa and discussed the basic requirements for the visa as well as the changes in the legislation and concluded that there is little research conducted on temporary workers.
Abstract: This article lays some groundwork for understanding how the issues of supply play out in the US. This reviews the major categories of temporary visas and particularly considers the specialty H-1B visa. Basic requirements for the visa are discussed as well as the changes in the legislation. Data on temporary visas are incomplete. What exists is presented with an eye toward tracking changes in numbers since the Immigration Act of 1990 went into effect in 1992. The most recent data available as of this writing are for 1996. The article finishes with a short review of the research literature on the labor market impact of skilled immigrants. However there is little research conducted on temporary workers.
11 citations
Journal Article•
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the severity of the means test is such that it excludes students from households with modest incomes and that this is contributing significantly to their low participation rates in higher education.
Abstract: In mid-1998 the Australian Government implemented a new payment system for student financial assistance in which the Youth Allowance replaced Austudy. An analysis of recipient rates as of September 1998 showed that only 37 per cent of full-time undergraduates were accessing the payment. It is argued that the severity of the means test is such that it excludes students from households with modest incomes and that this is contributing significantly to their low participation rates in higher education. Previous article ends on p. 19
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11 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that economic class and region were both associated with attitudes to the referendum; better-off, better educated people in inner-city suburbs were more likely to vote yes and poorer, less well-educated people in the outer suburbs and rural areas were more Likely to vote no.
Abstract: Should Australia become a republic with a head of state elected by a two-thirds majority of Parliament? In November 1999 this question was put to the people in a referendum and lost. The October 1998 Australian Election Study can help us understand this result. This survey shows that economic class and region were both associated with attitudes to the referendum; better-off, better-educated people in inner-city suburbs were more likely to vote yes and poorer, less well-educated people in the outer suburbs and rural areas were more likely to vote no. Trust in political institutions is also important; the more people trust government and political parties the more likely they were to vote yes. However, another factor has a stronger effect on the vote than either economic class, region or trust, and that is attitudes to the new cosmopolitan social agenda developed in the Hawke and Keating years. This agenda includes closer integration with Asia, support for minority rights, especially Aboriginal rights, and support for multiculturalism and immigration. People who approve of this agenda were more likely to have voted yes than people who do not. Economic and locational variables can be thought of as one major set of causes of the outcome of the referendum and attitudes to the cosmopolitan agenda as another. There is an overlap between the two sets but this overlap is only partial, and the effect of support for the cosmopolitan agenda is stronger than the effect of economic circumstances or region. The effect of trust is mid-way between the two major sets.
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7 citations
TL;DR: The authors reported on surveys of attitudes to migration and identity issues in the Springvale region of Melbourne in 1993-94 and 1998 and found that there has not been an increase in xenophobic attitudes between the two surveys.
Abstract: This article reports on surveys of attitudes to migration and identity issues in the Springvale region of Melbourne in 1993-94 and 1998. There has not been an increase in xenophobic attitudes between the two surveys. Most respondents believe discriminatory behaviour is improper. However, there is strong support for the ideal that Australia should be ‘one community’. Pagination on item is incorrect
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6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, major changes to the way skilled migrants are selected will be introduced beginning in July 1999, and new criteria will better target the skills needed by Australian employers. But because overseas students trained in Australia are to be given the highest selection priority and because universities are rapidly expanding places for such students, there is a risk that opportunities for local aspirants in some professional areas will diminish.
Abstract: Beginning in July 1999, major changes to the way skilled migrants are selected will be introduced. The new criteria will better target the skills needed by Australian employers. However, because overseas students trained in Australia are to be given the highest selection priority and because universities are rapidly expanding places for such students, there is a risk that opportunities for local aspirants in some professional areas will diminish. Previous article ends on p. 48
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6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that there should be an increase in the supply of both local IT graduates and immigration IT professionals, and there is an urgent need for additional earmarked funds for the training of local students.
Abstract: Australia faces a major supply crisis with professional IT workers. Industry representatives argue that there should be an increase in the supply of both local IT graduates and immigration IT professionals. Under present government policies most of the growth in supply will come from immigrants trained in Australia as full-fee overseas students. Additions from this source are a good thing but there is an urgent need for additional earmarked funds for the training of local students.
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TL;DR: In particular, greater employment self-sufficiency in the suburbs means that the residents are not as isolated from work and other urban amenities as has been assumed by many planners as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Recent economic developments in the suburbs have undermined the assumptions undergirding the planning policies which are facilitating higher density development in Melbourne. In particular, greater employment self-sufficiency in the suburbs means that the residents are not as isolated from work and other urban amenities as has been assumed by many planners
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TL;DR: In Sydney's south-western suburbs, low income and non-English-speaking-background birthplace increasingly overlap as discussed by the authors, and many of the Australia-born who are not succeeding in Sydney are retreating to the rest of NSW, particularly to its coastal communities.
Abstract: Sydney is flourishing relative to the rest of New South Wales (NSW). But there are winners and losers within Sydney, and the divide between them is being expressed in residential concentrations of rich and poor. In Sydney’s south-western suburbs, two factors, low income and non-English-speaking-background birthplace, increasingly overlap. Meanwhile many of the Australia-born who are not succeeding in Sydney are retreating to the rest of NSW, particularly to its coastal communities. Previous article ends on p. 33
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TL;DR: The Minister concluded that their immigration program must operate on a totally global and nondiscriminatory basis regarding matters such as race, religion, color, and ethnic origin.
Abstract: In an address to the Australian Population Association Biennial Conference during October 1998 the Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Minister Philip Ruddock argued that neither the zero net overseas migration policy nor the massive boost in immigration are in the national interest of Australia. Environmental groups generally view that Australia should adopt a policy of zero net overseas migration. On the other hand business and industry bodies consider that a substantial increase in the migration intake is needed in order to increase economic growth and to reduce the impact of an aging population. Moreover some are concerned about population targets reaching up to 50 million in 50 years time. Thus management of immigration policy is a difficult balancing act between competing objectives. The Minister concluded that their immigration program must operate on a totally global and nondiscriminatory basis regarding matters such as race religion color and ethnic origin.
TL;DR: The population of Melbourne grew faster than that of Regional Victoria between 1991 and 1996 and during the same period the population of Sydney grew fasterthan that of regional New South Wales.
Abstract: Between 1991 and 1996 the population of Melbourne grew faster than that of Regional Victoria. During the same period the population of Sydney grew faster than that of Regional New South Wales. Both these developments were unexpected. They occurred during a period of declining net overseas migration. Both developments can be partly explained by fewer people leaving Melbourne and Sydney and moving to the regional areas of their respective states. In Victoria, this development can also be partly explained by an increase in the number of people migrating interstate from Regional Victoria.
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TL;DR: Most Korean immigrants in Australia live in Sydney and a large proportion depend on tourism from Korea or on providing services to international students from Korea as mentioned in this paper, and the Korean economic crisis has therefore had a serious effect on the viability of many businesses within Sydney's Korean-Australian community.
Abstract: Most Korean immigrants in Australia live in Sydney. Many run small businesses and a large proportion depend on tourism from Korea or on providing services to international students from Korea. The Korean economic crisis has therefore had a serious effect on the viability of many businesses within Sydney’s Korean-Australian community. These economic difficulties have been compounded by job competition from Korean nationals who have come to Australia on temporary visas since the crisis and who look for work within the Korean community in Sydney and on Australian farms. (Many of these temporary immigrants appear to be working illegally.) The locals call them ‘the IMF drifting people’; their working and living conditions are grim and their presence appears to be causing tensions within the established Korean community.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the assumption underpinning current funding arrangements is that the homeless population is distributed in the same way as the general population, and funding is allocated on a population pro rata basis.
Abstract: The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) is Australia’s flagship program to assist homeless people. In 1996-97, it funded just under 1,200 non-government services across the country to provide accommodation and support services for homeless people. The dominant assumption underpinning current funding arrangements is that the homeless population is distributed in the same way as the general population, and funding is allocated on a population pro rata basis. This paper argues that the assumption is incorrect. There were 105,000 homeless people across the country on census night 1996. However, there were between 40 and 50 homeless people per 10,000 of the population in the four ‘Southern States’ (New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania). In Western Australia and Queensland, there were between 70 and 80 homeless people per 10,000 of the population. In the Northern Territory, there were 520 per 10,000, mainly due to indigenous people living in improvised dwellings. These findings raise major policy and planning issues for SAAP.
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TL;DR: In the past national governments were expected to meet citizen's material needs by providing physical and economic security, and the significant faultlines in society followed the divisions between rich and poor as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the past national governments were expected to meet citizen’s material needs by providing physical and economic security, and the significant faultlines in society followed the divisions between rich and poor. Today people focus on past-material needs and we face a multitude of faultlines marked out by special interest groups and minority parties. But two major questions lie behind this multitude of faultlines. The first concerns community. Should we identify with the national community or with a number of different types of communities? The second concerns individualism and the growing politics of rights. Should we define democracy as a system of representation within a nation state or as a set of individual rights? If we are to maintain social cohesion we need to find ways of answering these questions.
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TL;DR: The implications of immigration to the US are explored with reference to the impact on low-skilled labour markets and inequality in the US as mentioned in this paper, with the result that the earnings disparity between high and low skilled workers has widened.
Abstract: The implications of immigration to the US are explored with reference to the impact on low-skilled labour markets and inequality in the US Recent research indicates that low-skilled American workers are the main losers, with the result that the earnings disparity between high and low-skilled workers has widened
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