Perhaps that’s why the Labor leader has strongly declared himself a supporter of a “big Australia” population policy, setting it down as one of the markers he will adopt if he wins the next election. Bill Shorten told The Australian that immigration had been a great economic driver and he expected Australia’s population to grow at a faster rate than the world average.

Both key political camps in Australia have declared their support for immigration going against the recent rumblings of iconic entrepreneurs like Dick Smith and Flight Centre’s founder Graham Turner’s who have been campaigning that a “big Australia’ is unsustainable.

Their views are supported by a 2013 Galaxy poll of 1000 people for News Limited which found that the majority are overwhelmingly against a “Big Australia”, with 70 per cent hoping the population does not hit the 40 million mark projected by 2050.

Bill Shorten however says, “I don’t favour that bumper sticker which says ‘Go away, we’re full.” Mr Shorten says he is enthusiastic about a bigger population. “I’m a fan of immigration and what it’s done for this country,” he told The Australian, noting that there is a disproportionately high number of immigrants among entrepreneurs and tax­payers.

“The number presents itself. We’re going to have a natural birthrate and we’re going to have immigration. We’re going to keep growing, probably faster than the average for the rest of the world,” he said.

Kevin Rudd generated a political storm in 2010 when he endorsed a “big Australia” following projections in the government’s Intergenerational report that the population would reach 36 million by 2050. The then opposition leader Tony Abbott said he would cut immigration by about 130,000 people a year.

Hiring professional exam sitters to help them pass the English test have helped several take advantage of Australia’s slow immigration and appeals process to remain in Australia for up to 5 years.

Details of the racket were revealed in a series of decisions by Australia’s Migration Review Tribunal, according to a report in the Courier Mail. It states that two dozen foreigners have been caught hiring professional exam sitters to help get them Australian residency, in a lucrative visa racket and 17 more have been found to have changed their scores to turn a fail into a pass.

Modest/Competent use of the English language is a minimum requirement for many visas to Australia.

According to the Courier Mail, the migrants were nabbed when photos taken of the professional exam sitters who took the English test didn’t match the passport photos of the cheaters.

Ombudsman says : "Your employer may choose to pay you using cash, cheque, money or postal order, or through electronic funds transfer into your bank account."

UNCLASSIFIED

Article by David Chin

Here are some highlights from our recent research on Chinese high net worth investors and the Significant Investor Visa (SIV) industry:

The tribunals are moving towards introducing email as a primary means of communication for all case related correspondence. From 13 October 2014, a single registry email address will be used for all case related communications between the tribunals, applicants and their representatives.

All valid email addresses provided to the tribunals for the purpose of current reviews will shortly be sent an email. The email will ask them to confirm that this is the email address that they wish to use as their primary means of communication with the tribunals.

Representatives who choose to communicate with the tribunals by email will receive all correspondence relating to their application via their nominated email address. A representative may contact the tribunals to update their email address at any time.