Since 2006, not a single person has been prosecuted by Australia’s foreign investment watchdog – the FIRB. In the meantime, property prices have almost doubled in the major cities. In recent years, the market is said to be growing at an unsustainable rate of over 10 per cent with analysts warning of a property market bubble that could send Australia’s economy spiralling into waters unchartered since the 1990s.

The toothless FIRB and aggressive foreign interest have been blamed for this unprecedented growth in the property  market which many say are leaving the Australian dream of home-ownership, as just that, a dream.

Treasurer Joe Hockey announced yesterday plans for a raft of new laws which he believes will change all of this. Once in effect, foreigners, both temporary and non-residents, are expected to pay an application fee to the Treasury before being allowed to buy Australian residential property:

"For any foreign investor that wants to buy a residential property under $1 million, there will be a $5,000 application fee," said the Treasurer according to a report on the ABC.

"Over $1 million, it will be $10,000 for every extra million dollars in the purchase price.

The DIBP's Procedures Advice Manual (PAMs) have been changed and the policy is now as follows:

46.5 Training benchmark A - industry training fund

Industry training funds are statutory authorities responsible for providing funding for training of eligible workers in certain industries. For example, some State/Territory governments have construction industry training funds established by Acts of Parliament to support the training of eligible persons in the building and construction industry such as the ACT Building and Construction Industry Training Fund that is administered under the Building and Construction Industry Training Levy Act 1999. These training funds generally source revenue through levies from businesses operating in that industry. Industry training funds operate in a range of sectors including construction and mining but are not limited to these industries. Immigration has no authority to register or establish industry training funds.

Migration Alliance member Svetlana Gunaratne has arranged an event for all RMA women in Australia.

The details for our International Women's Day RMA event are below:

Location: Infusion’s Cammeray

Migration Alliance has permission to publish this news from Mr Steve Ingram.

As of Monday this week Mr Ingram is working for Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton MP.  

I am meeting with the Office of the MARA this Friday to determine who the next CEO is or will be, and to find out more details on 'who is going to do what' at OMARA from this point onwards.

Over 200 bikies, foreign criminals, including suspected members or associates of bikie gangs, drug traffickers and sex offenders have had their visas cancelled in the past three months and have started being deported from Australia.

The number of cancellations is much higher than in recent years, because Immigration Minister Peter Dutton now has greater powers to revoke visas of convicted criminals. Since December last year, 203 visas have been cancelled, a high rate of cancellations compared to 372 revocations between July 2011 and July 2014, according to a report on the ABC.

Mr Dutton said he would not apologise for taking a tough approach.

"Frankly they're detracting from the Australian society, not adding to it.They should be removed from our shores as quickly as possible,” he said.

Of the 203 people who have had their visas cancelled since mid-December last year, 92 are living in immigration detention centres. Another 99 are serving sentences in prison and 12 have already been deported.