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Australian Immigration News 4 February 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- The Australian leads coverage reporting that some Chinese students have been placed in detention upon their arrival in Australia, amid an escalating government response to the spread of coronavirus. Senior university executives have said the actions are threatening the global reputation of Australia's international education industry.
- The Australian reports that the impact of coronavirus has placed a spotlight on Australian universities' reliance on Chinese international students. The article notes that international student fee income accounts for about a quarter of total university revenue, while in terms of Australia’s total annual export income, more than $12 billion comes from Chinese students.
- The North Queensland Register leads syndicated online coverage reporting on the Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement, which came into effect on January 1 this year. The agreement enables businesses to sponsor skilled and semi-skilled overseas workers from a select list of occupations, and is the largest and most comprehensive labour agreement in Australia.
Coronavirus: Chinese students put in detention after arriving in Australia
The Australian, Other, 03/02/2020, Tim Dodd
Chinese students were put in detention, their belongings confiscated and valid visas cancelled, according to university officials, who say Border Force personnel overreacted when flights from China arrived in Australia on Sunday. Senior university executives, who claimed some students were subject to hours of interrogation, said the actions in response to the coronavirus travel ban threatened the global reputation of the $39bn international education industry.
Coronavirus: Chinese student detained after visa cancelled
The Australian, Other, 04/02/2020, Heidi Han
A newly arrived Chinese student had his student visa cancelled at Sydney Airport on Sunday morning and was detained in a hotel room in the city centre before being allowed to enter the country on a 30-day temporary visa. Echo Hu, who only wants to give his English name, revealed his introduction to Australia after the government's sudden travel ban was invoked.
Universities have put an awful lot of eggs in their Chinese baskets
The Australian, Other, 04/02/2020, Judith Sloan
No doubt there were a lot of meetings at universities last weekend, full of well-paid but panicked officials. The only topic was how to deal with the coronavirus and how this might affect enrolments of full-fee paying students from China.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab seeks renewable energy technology deal
The Australian, Other, 03/02/2020, Ben Packham
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will discuss a new renewable energy technology partnership with the Morrison government during a visit to Canberra this week, as he looks to turbocharge his country's post-Brexit relationship with Australia. A new free-trade agreement will also be high on the agenda during the visit Mr Raab's first stop on a post-Brexit tour of Southeast Asia as well as potential improvements to working visa access to both countries.
Qantas flight leaves Wuhan after six-hour delay
Sydney Morning Herald, Other, 03/02/2020, Eryk Bagshaw
Hundreds of Australian citizens and permanent residents have been evacuated out of Wuhan after a six-hour delay, leaving the centre of the coronavirus outbreak. The 243 passengers are now on a Qantas flight travelling over the South China sea.
WA economy facing $165 million tourism hit amid global panic
West Australian, Other, 04/02/2020, Josh Zimmerman and Peter De Kruijff
No West Australian has tested positive for coronavirus to date but the entire State has been warned to brace for the fiscal fallout of the deadly epidemic. With all direct flights from China to Australia grounded, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA yesterday forecast $160 million in lost visitor spend for the first three months of 2020, putting 1500 jobs at risk. [Paywalled]
Coronavirus has stranded Chinese international students who fear missing university
ABC Online, Other, 03/02/2020, Alan Zheng and Carrie Wen
When Karen showed up at Qingdao International Airport on Saturday afternoon for a flight to Australia, she found the airport in disarray. It was supposed to be a routine flight to Sydney to start a new year of university.
A Sydney hotel is secretly being set up as an 'isolation unit' for dozens of Chinese nationals who may have been exposed to the deadly coronavirus
Daily Mail Australia, Other, 03/02/2020, Brittany Chain For Daily Mail Australia
Dozens of foreigners who may have been exposed to the potentially deadly coronavirus are set to be secretly held in isolation at a hotel near the centre of Sydney, a source close to the operation has revealed. Staff involved in the Australian Government's quarantine operation on Christmas Island claim security guards from Serco - the company that deploys staff at the immigration detention - have been sent to a Sydney hotel to oversee the operation.
Hort labour agreement promises skilled labour access
North Queensland Register, Other, 03/02/2020, Ashley Walmsley
Another tool to help ease worker shortage woes has been placed into Australian horticulture's toolbox with the implementation of the Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement (HILA) this year. Acting minister for immigration, Alan Tudge, signed off on the agreement in December 2019. It came into effect on January 1 this year.
Our economy is still weak despite unemployment at 5%
Independent Australia, Other, 03/02/2020, Abul Rizvi
When unemployment increased to over 11% in 1992-93, we worried but we were not surprised given the state of the economy. After all, our unemployment rate was over 10% just ten years earlier after the 1982-83 recession and we experienced similar levels of unemployment in the 1974-75 recession.
Visa outsource plan ‘dead in the water’
innovationaus.com, Other, 03/02/2020, Denham Sadler
The federal government’s $1 billion plan to outsource the visa processing system is now "dead in the water" after revelations it will require new legislation, according to the Opposition. The plan, which has already cost more than $80 million with a successful bidder yet to be selected, would see a private sector provider develop the Global Digital Platform, a new IT system for visa processing.
ABC News, ABC News at Noon, 03/02/2020, Ros Childs
Press conference with Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy. Payne commends the team who travelled into Wuhan to evacuate the Australians caught up in the city.
