In what is probably a first for the migration advice industry, the Convenor of the Migration Alliance, Ms Liana Allan, has been announced as a finalist for this year's Businesswoman of the Year Award.

In an industry controlled and stifled by authorities with little or no business sense, the Migration Alliance was formed in 2009 by Ms Liana Allan to provide the passionate and trusted leadership missing in the migration advice industry.

Since inception, the aim of Migration Alliance has been to properly represent Registered Migration Agents in Australia; to lobby the Australian Government against unfair migration legislation and policies; and to represent the Australian migration community on an international stage.

The Migration Alliance is today Australia’s peak body of the migration advisory industry. One of its most important recent achievements was to successfully lobby the government to reverse the decision to introduce the compulsory introduction of an English Language testing for all migration agents. If the change had been introduced, agents with long standing and successful businesses in Australia would have lost a hard earned livelihood.

Migration Alliance now has 'stakeholder' status with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) and is included in DIBP’s stakeholder briefings and consultations. Migration Alliance also participates in Federal and State government liaison meetings, the Office of the MARA and Members of Parliament and their staff. Migration Alliance also makes submissions to estimates committees such as the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Senate Estimates on behalf of its members.

I would like to announce the winners for the Hon.  Treasurer Scott Morrison dinner, who will be seated at my table with Hon. Senator Concetta Fierravante-Wells on the evening of the 4 November 2015 at Dedes Restaurant:

Congratulations to the following six Registered Migration Agents!

1. Linda Geronimo
MARN 9687414

2. Dr Sirous Ahmadi PhD(USYD),JP
MARN: 0854826

3. Peter W. Marshall
MARN: 0962498

4. Kieran Hannon
MARN: 1280726

MIGRATION ALLIANCE SUPPORTS "SOLID INCUMBENT" STANLEY SHNEIDER FOR QLD/NT PRESIDENT OF THE MIA

The following is the statement provided to Migration Alliance for release, by nominee Stanley Schneider:

Labor has backed down on what many in the industry described as an unreasonable demand to increase the sc457 income threshold from $53,900 to $57,000 and has thus allowed the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) to pass parliament.

As part of the compromise with the opposition, the Coalition government has however agreed to a review of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) later this year to see if any changes are still necessary. The last review recommended that the TSMIT should be frozen.

Analysts described the changes proposed by Labor in the compromise as ‘purely cosmetic’ and the delay in ratifying the agreement which has largely remained unchanged as unnecessary.

“The government has been vindicated for standing firm against the misleading and xenophobic campaign run against ChAFTA by the rogue Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union,” noted an opinion piece in The Australian today.

“The CFMEU conjured up an image of Chinese hordes descending on Australia to steal the jobs of locals. Bill Shorten did the right thing by striking a compromise with the Coalition and, however belatedly, repudiating the scare tactics of the CFMEU.”

...