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Posted by on in General

ETS and the Chinese National Education Examination Authority (NEEA) have cancelled all GRE and TOEFL test administrations in Mainland China through to the end of February. This is due to concern for the health and safety of our test takers and test center staff in response to the escalation on January 26, 2020 to a Level One Public Health Emergency Response by the Provincial Governments in China.  

At this time, test administrations in locations outside Mainland China (except Hong Kong) will take place as scheduled.  Testing has also been suspended in Hong Kong till mid-February. 

Because of this situation, many Chinese test takers will be delayed in testing and sending scores. 

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Posted by on in General
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • The Herald Sun and the Courier Mail lead reports that amid coronoavirus fears, flights from China to Australia were cancelled over the weekend after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced foreigners travelling from China would be banned from entering the country. Commissioner of the Australian Border Force Michael Outram said that Australia will "deny entry to anyone who was in or transited through mainland China on or since February 1 2020". He added that anyone arriving in Australia who has been to mainland China since February 1 would have their visa cancelled and placed in detention for a quarantine period.
  • The Australian Financial Review (2) reports that Australian universities are being hit with a "triple whammy" of threats as the United Kingdom prepares to offer highly competitive visas to foreign students, just as bushfires and the coronavirus smash the reputation of Australia's $38 billion international higher education market. Under a new deal, the UK will offer students doing one-year master's degrees a right to work in the country for two years - a qualifying period half as long as in Australia - and puts the UK in the same highly-generous visa category as Canada and New Zealand.
Airport chaos as China flights cancelled
Herald Sun, Other, 02/02/2020, Grant McArthur, Sharon McGowan, Ashley Argoon and Rhiannon Down
Families of people travelling from China have been left in limbo after several flights were cancelled following a ban on foreigners entering Australia from China. It comes as a Monash University staffer has been confirmed as a coronavirus patient. Flights from China to Australia were rapidly cancelled yesterday just hours after the Prime Minister announced foreigners travelling from China would be banned from entering the country.

Australia on lockdown as medical authorities rush to contain the virus
The Courier Mail, Other, 02/02/2020, Eliot Hastie
Australia's Chief Medical Officer has given some scary insights into the coronavirus outbreak but says there is some good news. A third patient with the coronavirus was discharged in NSW over the weekend leading the government to believe the virus can be contained. Health Minister Greg Hunt appeared before the press on Sunday to give an update on the virus in Australia.
Also reported by: NEWS.com.au (Online)

A couple in Adelaide have tested positive to the disease making it SA's first case of the virus
The Courier Mail, Other, 02/02/2020, Eliot Hastie
Adelaide has just confirmed its first case of coronavirus as the virus spreads to over 14,000 people worldwide. A Chinese couple testing positive to the disease having arrived in South Australia from Wuhan, China on January 20. The Adelaide Advertiser reports that the couple is in a stable condition in separate sealed quarantine rooms in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Australia on lockdown as medical authorities rush to contain the virus
The Mercury, Other, 02/02/2020, Eliot Hastie
A third patient with the coronavirus was discharged in NSW over the weekend leading the government to believe the virus can be contained. Health Minister Greg Hunt appeared before the press on Sunday to give an update on the virus in Australia.

More than 5,000 violent migrants - murderers and child rapists - have been kicked out of Australia
Daily Mail Australia, Other, 31/01/2020, Louise Ayling
An American national who punched his heavily pregnant ex girlfriend in the stomach is one of 5,000 migrants kicked out of Australia in the past five years. Figures from theDepartment of Home Affairs show that of those deported452 were child sex offenders, 220 were rapists, and 93 were murderers.

ABC News, ABC News - 11:00 (Weekend), 02/02/2020, Miriam Corowa
Press conference with Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy, and Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram in Canberra [about the coronavirus outbreak]. Outram recalls the PM announcing yesterday that all travellers arriving from Mainland China will be subject to enhanced border control measures to ensure the health and well-being of the community.

2SM, Mornings, 31/01/2020, John Laws
Laws reports that it has been revealed that over 5000 foreign nationals have been deported from the country due to offences from assault to murder by the Department of Immigration. He says The Australian reveals the deportation was due to new measures introduced in 2014.
Universities seek new markets after triple-blow
Australian Financial Review, Other, 31/01/2020, Robert Bolton
Universities are being hit with a "triple whammy" of threats as the United Kingdom gears up to offer highly competitive visas to foreign students, just as bushfires and the coronavirus smash the reputation of Australia's $38 billion international higher education market. Dan Tehan says the government is pushing universities to diversify their enrolments to new markets.

Universities wrong-footed by fires, a deadly virus and Brexit
Australian Financial Review, Other, 01/02/2020, Robert Bolton
Some people are calling it the four horsemen of the apocalypse for universities: drought, disease, competition and trade wars. Just when universities had a reasonably stable outlook, having moved past their recent conflict with the government over funding, the sector finds itself facing unexpected threats.

A mind-blowing idea
The Australian, Other, 01/02/2020, Cameron Stewart
As he prepared to drive a Formula One car for the first time, Rodrigo Hbner Mendes ran through the three things he would need to concentrate on in order to steer the car around the track - a soccer goal, delicious food and riding a bicycle. This was no ordinary Formula One car; it had no pedals and no steering wheel.

'Perfect storm': Rules relaxed for universities struggling with coronavirus
Sydney Morning Herald, Other, 31/01/2020
The university regulator will relax its rules on attendance and online content to help the sector cope with the impact of coronavirus on its lucrative international student market, which is facing its toughest condition in years. Phil Honeywood, the chair of a global reputation taskforce set up to co-ordinate the sector's response to the health crisis, warned the virus could have a "massive potential impact" on the third biggest industry in NSW, worth $39 billion a year nationally.

In practice, Chinese students in Australia are already quarantined
Sydney Morning Herald, Other, 02/02/2020
The popular wisdom doing the rounds this summer is that sometimes it takes a crisis to reveal our true qualities. But if the bushfires etched a portrait of the courage and generosity of ordinary people, the coronavirus is laying bare Australia's complicated and not always edifying relationship with China and its people, especially its students.

The Sydney suburbs sending the most students to selective schools
Sydney Morning Herald, Other, 02/02/2020
Sydney's selective schools are drawing the majority of their students from suburbs popular with skilled migrants, who hope a good education will help their children break through the so-called bamboo ceiling. As a proportion of the school-age population, Edmondson Park in south-west Sydney, Hurstville, and Carlingford are the suburbs that have the most students at selective high schools, new figures from the NSW Department of Education obtained under Freedom of Information laws show.

Secrets of success for skilled migrants happy in Launceston
Tasmanian Examiner, Other, 01/02/2020
In November, skilled migrants who had moved to Launceston shared the experiences of racism that caused them to leave. There are also, of course, many skilled migrants who move to this city and love their lives here - but it doesn't happen by accident.
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Posted by on in General

Migration Alliance released news here about the denial of entry of persons coming from China which stated the following: 

Australia will deny entry to anyone who has left or transited mainland China from 1 February, with the exception of Australian citizens, permanent residents, immediate family members of Australian citizens and permanent residents including spouses, minor dependents and legal guardians.

Migration Alliance has sought further advice in relation to the wording in the above statement.  That advice is as follows:

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Posted by on in General

Travellers arriving from any part of mainland China, regardless of nationality, will be subject to enhanced border control measures to ensure health, safety and well-being of Australians.

The Australian Government has announced that as of 1 February 2020, all travellers arriving from any part of mainland China, regardless of nationality, will be subject to enhanced border control measures to ensure the health, safety and well-being of the Australian community.

Australia will deny entry to anyone who has left or transited mainland China from 1 February, with the exception of Australian citizens, permanent residents, immediate family members of Australian citizens and permanent residents including spouses, minor dependents and legal guardians

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Posted by on in General
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • Sydney Morning HeraldSBS OnlineThe Advocate and 2SM report Opposition home affairs spokesperson Kristina Keneally will caution that Australia's reliance on temporary visas is risking a new and detrimental form of social and economic exclusion, during her first major policy speech at the annual Curtin Lecture in Melbourne. Senator Keneally will call on the federal government to reduce temporary visa numbers due to concerns Australia's growing temporary migrant workforce will "undercut wages" and "change who we are as a nation".
  • SBS Online reports the Department of Home Affairs' has said its proposal to build and manage a new online visa system to assist in the processing of visa applications “will likely” need legislative change to proceed; however, the proposal is facing political opposition from Labor, the Greens and Centre Alliance over concerns the privatisation of visa processing would undermine the system's integrity.
Kristina Keneally sounds alarm on temporary migrants
Sydney Morning Herald, Other, 29/01/2020
Australia's reliance on temporary visas has created millions of migrants with no stake in the country's future, Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally will warn on Thursday night, saying the nation is risking a new and damaging form of social and economic exclusion.

Visa outsourcing plan faces uncertain future after Home Affairs advice revealed
SBS.COM.AU, Other, 29/01/2020, Tom Stayner
The outsourcing of Australia's visa system through a $1 billion plan "will likely" need legislative change to go ahead - meaning political opposition could derail its future. A billion-dollar plan to outsource the visa processing system is facing uncertainty with advice from officials warning legislative change is likely to be needed for the overhaul to go ahead.

Australia has become over-reliant on temporary migrants, Kristina Keneally warns
SBS.COM.AU, Other, 30/01/2020, Maani Truu
Labor's home affairs spokesperson will use a speech in Melbourne to argue against allowing temporary migrant numbers in Australia to surge. Australia is relying too heavily on temporary migrants to bolster the workforce at the expense of permanent immigrants, Labor's spokesperson for home affairs will warn during a speech on Thursday night.

Labor warns of new migrant 'underclass'
The Advocate (Hepburn), Other, 30/01/2020, Daniel McCulloch
Australia's reliance on temporary migration risks creating a new and damaging form of social and economic exclusion, Labor's home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally has warned. In her first major policy speech since taking on the portfolio, Senator Keneally will declare Australia has changed from a nation built by permanent residents to an economy reliant on temporary visas.

2SM, 08:00 News, 30/01/2020
Shadow Home Affairs Kristina Keneally is convinced the spike of temporary migrants in Australia is causing economic underclass. She says this is expected to continue as the Morrison Government concurrently cracks down on permanent migration.
Also reported by: 2BH (Broken Hill)

2SM, Breakfast, 30/01/2020, Dave Sutherland
Regular Segment: In the Nation's Capital PM Scott Morrison claims he is open in expanding the controversial community sports grant program. Former Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie is currently under investigation for her handling of the scheme after the Auditor-General accused her of using it as an election slush fund. [...] Labor Senator and Shadow Home Affairs Minister Kristina Keneally claims Australia's reliance on short term and temporary migration is creating an economic underclass in the country.

MIX 104.9, 360, 29/01/2020, Katie Woolf
Interview with Nicole Manison, NT Treasurer, acting Chief Minister. Woolf states the latest CommSec State of the State Report shows the Territory continues to be Australia's worst-performing economy. [...] She further adds that one of the concerns is the Designated Area of Migration Agreement and notes it is alarming they try to put the Territory alongside Adelaide, the Gold Coast and Perth.

Radio Australia (Asia Pacific), Pacific Beat, 29/01/2020, Catherine Graue
Report by Jordan Fennell and Evan Wasuka. Australia has joined some Pacific nations in urging their citizens to reconsider travel to China.
 
After Brexit, Britain’s hard line on immigration won’t hold
Guardian Australia, Other, 30/01/2020, Jonathan Portes
New proposals won’t mean restricting the numbers of people coming to the UK just a new form of openness Brexit will be "done" by 31 January, except little will change. What the Brexiteers have mistaken for a single moment will in reality be a lengthy and painful process.

Setting a path for 2020 and beyond
BN Western Australia, Other, 29/01/2020, Matt McKenzie
A hiatus in the US-China trade war and an improved economic outlook gives WA leaders an opportunity look to longer-term challenges such as climate change and technological disruption. Lastmonth provided some cause for Western Australians to be optimistic, with the ASX 200 passing 7,000 points and the announcement of a trade deal between the world's two major economic powers.

Tony Robinson down under
SBS.COM.AU, Other, 29/01/2020
Tony Robinson does an entrance examination to see if he'd qualify as an acceptable migrant to Australia. From its earliest days, Australia needed free migrants to grow and prosper, and it needed women.

Experience greater convenience while applying for your Japan visa at three new VFS Global centres in Australia
theindiantelegraph.com.au, Other, 29/01/2020, Macquarie Street
Effective 6 January 2020, the Embassy of Japan in Melbourne will no longer accept application submissions in person from residents in Australia who plan to travel to Japan. Since this date, customers will instead be able to visit any of the three locations to submit their applications.

 

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