Prime minister-designate MalcomTurnbull is finalising his new team in cabinet and is look set to replace several key ministerial roles including that of the treasurer and immigration minister.

Political analysts are predicting a greater female presence on the frontbench under Mr Turnbull, with possible promotions for Michaelia Cash, currently serving as assistant minister for immigration and border protection, and possibly Fiona Nash, assistant minister for health.

The futures of the likes of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Defence Minister Kevin Andrews, who ran against Julie Bishop for the deputy leadership during last night's spill, are less clear.

Recently, Mr Dutton made international news for insulting aboriginal people and making light of the potentially devastating effect of climate change on Australia’s Pacific neighbours. 

Last night, Malcolm Turnbull toppled Tony Abbot in a party ballot for Liberal leader by 54 votes to 44. Julie Bishop defeated Kevin Andrews 70 votes to 30 in ballot for deputy leader.

Changes to Australia’s Significant Investor Visa in July this year have apparently resulted in a drop in the number of applications lodged to just seven according to a report in the Financial Times. Are investors heading elsewhere?

In an attempt to stop the flow of funds into the Australian property market, the government’s new rules essentially forced investor funds away from government bonds and the property market into high risk investments.

Some investment analysts have said that the changes to the SIV program would have a deterrent effect on the program with investors likely to shop elsewhere for their visa.

Tana Xuren, managing director of Lodestone Capital, a Melbourne-based financial advisory firm, told The Australian earlier this year that the Chinese who made up more than 90 per cent of all SIV applicants were conservative investors who preferred safe bets rather than high-risk ventures required under the new program.

“Many SIV clients are in their 50s. They have made their money from manufacturing and real estate; they are risk-averse. For some of them, putting money into venture capital is the same as paying fees to the Australian government...They don’t expect to get their money back.”

"Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done." R v Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy [1924]. This famous principle actually allows for judicial decisions to be overturned if there is a mere appearance of bias.

With Federal Court Judge Alexander "Sandy" Street accused of ‘apprehended bias’ after having rejected over 252 appeals of the 254 migration cases he considered over a period of six months, applicants are presenting these statistics to show that those seeking a judicial review of migration decisions had virtually no chance of succeeding in Judge Street's court.

Even the editor of the Federal Court Reports, Victor Kline, has apparently sworn an affidavit for the Full Federal Court alleging that Judge Street found in favour of the Immigration Minister in virtually every case he heard between January and June this year, according to a report on the ABC.

“According to the statistics, the judge dismissed a large number of cases at the first court date, which is usually set aside for laying down a timetable for gathering evidence and scheduling a hearing,” noted the ABC report.

Monash University law professor Matthew Groves told the ABC that such analysis of an individual judge's rulings was rarely seen in Australian courts.

Given a chance, they land on their feet and potentially can become job creators, this is what figures released for the first time by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) seem to indicate.

According to the ABS figures, migrants generated $38 billion in total income in 2009-10. Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of migrant taxpayers were Skilled, 28 per cent were Family migrants and 4 per cent were Humanitarian migrants. On average, skilled migrants earned a median wage of $43,593 and were from Britain, India, China, South Africa and the Philippines. Family migrants, who have been reunited with family members in Australia earned a median wage of $30,000 and humanitarian visa holders, earned a median wage of $27,000.

“While almost two-thirds of migrant taxpayers were migrants with a Skilled visa — reporting $26 billion in Employee income — Humanitarian migrants displayed greater entrepreneurial qualities and reported a higher proportion of income from their own unincorporated businesses and this income increased sharply after five years of residency,” noted Jenny Dobak from the ABS.

Migrants born in the UK reported the most total income at $8.8 billion, while migrants born in India were the second largest income contributors with $5.3 billion of total income. Migrants born in South Africa comprised only 5 per cent of all migrant taxpayers but received $2.8 billion in total income. People from Sudan and Sierra Leone earned the most income within the humanitarian category.

Median Employee incomes for Skilled males exceeded the median Employee income for Skilled females across all age groups. Almost 55 per cent of migrant taxpayers were males reporting 65 per cent or $24 billion of total income.

The statistics only included figures on permanent migrants, excluding people on temporary visas such as 457 or students visas who have been under particular scrutiny lately after the 7-Eleven franchise chain was exposed in Australia for grossly under-paying staff on student visas. Under the Abbott government, 13,750 people are granted a humanitarian visa a year. These figures are set to increase to 18,750 annually from 2018. The Abbott government yesterday announced a one-off increase of 12,000 humanitarian visa places to help resettle the estimated 4 million people displaced by the crisis in Syria.

The Abbott government today announced a commitment to increase the existing refugee intake of 13,750 people to 18,750 by 2018.

The Government has confirmed the 12,000 places it announced today will come on top of that previous commitment.

"We will move very quickly, but everyone who is resettled in Australia will be subject to the usual security, health and character checks," said Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

"Our focus for these new 12,000 permanent resettlement places will be those people most in need of permanent protection — women, children and families from persecuted minorities who have sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey... the most vulnerable of all."