After studying the size of international student populations for its 2014 Global Cities Index, Global consultancy firm A.T. Kearney has concluded that it is not London, Paris, New York or Singapore that is the favourite destination for international students to live, learn and play.

The most popular city in the world for international university students is Sydney. The economic hub of Australia has beat more than 83 cities including London, Paris and New York to the coveted spot.

Reporting the results of the firm’s findings, the Sydney Morning Herald noted that the federal government figures show that Sydney is home to an estimated 50,000 international students studying at the city's universities, with another 50,000 studying vocational and English courses.

Speaking to the newspaper Sydney Lord mayor Clover Moore said the council's figures showed about 35,000 international students studied on campuses in the City of Sydney and more than 10,000 lived in the local government area

"Our community of international students improves the city's prosperity and liveability," Ms Moore said.

The Federal Government said that the jailing of a former migration agent for immigration fraud sent a strong message to the industry that fraudulent and illegal behaviour will not be tolerated.

Ms Xiao Ying Wu (known as Amy Wu), was based in Sydney's Chinatown and pleaded guilty to forging immigration documents and defrauding her clients, who were seeking assistance with visa applications, in order to obtain more than $80 000.

She was sentenced today in the Downing Centre District Court to 21 months' imprisonment, with five months to be served, in relation to two Commonwealth charges of using false documents to obtain benefits.

She also received 18 months' imprisonment with five months' minimum term (to be served concurrently) for two charges under the NSW Crimes Act of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage.

The Australian trade mission to China which recently had ATEC complaining of the dangers Australia’s ‘antiquated’ and ‘demeaning’ visa application process for Chinese tourists poses to Australia’s $4 billion tourism industry, has now had James Packer calling for a simplification of the visa process starting just with allowing for online visa applications to be made in Chinese.

James Packer, a member of Mr Abbott's business delegation to China, says it should be easier for Chinese people to visit Australia, reports the ABC.

Mr Packer is the chairman and majority shareholder of Crown Resorts, the operator of casino hotels in Melbourne, Perth and the Macau Special Administrative Region of China, which competes with other destination resorts in places such as Singapore and Las Vegas.

According to the ABC, Mr Packer recently told Melbourne radio that it didn't make sense that visa application forms in China should be filled out in English and it didn't make sense that they had to be sent through the post.

The ABC reports that in the face of a chronic skill shortages in the dairy industry, Dairy Australia is pushing for widened access to the temporary 457 foreign working visa.

Dairy Australia is preparing to make a submission to the Federal Government on including skilled dairy workers under the 457 visa concessions by mid-year, according to a report by the ABC.

Employing foreign labour is pipped as the most likely short term solution for the labour shortage, while training and educating local dairy farmers and Australian-based workers is part of the long-term picture.

A survey of dairy farmers by Dairy Australia found that of 59 per cent of dairy farms had tried to hire people to work between 2003 and 2008. Almost two-thirds of those say they often or always had difficulty finding the right people.

Speaking to the ABC, Dairy Australia manager of policy strategy Claire Miller said dairy has the capacity to grow, but the industry needs workers. She says state and national policies are encouraging agricultural expansion to take advantage of the Asian dining room, but the workforce is not large enough for the industry to grow. "The skill shortage we're experiencing is actually among the barriers for dairy farmers to expand," she said.

Chinese and Australian tourism industry leaders are complaining that DIBPs got it so wrong with its antiquated tourist visa system that it is threatening to damage Australia’s tourism industry which is valued at some $4 billion.

Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) is set to do battle with DIBP to get it to allow for a more streamlined visa processing system for tourists, according to a report from the Travel Weekly.

Returning from Australia Week in China, ATEC Chairman, John King OAM, told the Travel Weekly that Chinese representatives have expressed concerns about the efficacy of Australia’s visa system for visitors coming from China and that leading figures in China's travel industry have lodged complaints over the "demeaning" nature of Australia's visa application process.

Tourism Australia is reportedly investing heavily in advertising and promotions in order to draw more tourists from China to Australia. But King says that DIBPs approach is turning potential tourists away from the country and thus urgent change is needed. 

"In order to achieve the full potential the Chinese visitor market offers, we need to ensure access for Free Independent Travellers is maximised and this requires an easily accessed and quickly processed visa system," King told the Travel Weekly.

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