With some analysts predicting that the Australian dollar is heading toward the 50/60 cent levels against the US Dollar, Australia is once again priming up as the world’s favourite destination. "U.S. travelers would choose to visit Australia over almost every other country on Earth,” according to TripAdvisor. The Huffingtonpost recently updated a story it carried some years ago, to once again highlight the reason why people choose Australia, with notable attractions/activities actually missing the list.

• In Australia, it's incredibly normal to take a gap year. Taking 12 months off between school and going to university has become almost a rite of passage for the estimated 200,000 school leavers each year.
• Australians have swimming pools in their oceans.
• People in Australia really know coffee. Starbucks tried to invade the scene a few years ago, but Aussies didn’t break from their traditional coffee haunts Starbucks was forced to close 61 of its 87 Australian stores and eventually sell out off its remaining operations.
• Two words: Gold. Coast.
• Precious, just-born, infant turtles crawl into the Australian sea from January until March. And there are turtle guides who will help you find and say hi to them.
• The minimum wage in Australia is $16.88. SIXTEEN DOLLARS AND EIGHTY-EIGHT CENTS! In America, minimum wage ranges by state from $5.15 (Georgia) to $9.19 (Washington). The ugly truth is that sometimes, workers have to sue their employers to get their fair share.
• A bunch of lakes in Australia are pink, thanks to algae and prawns.
• You can apply for a travel visa to Australia online. No consulates, no lines, no heartache.
• Australians don't sacrifice sustainability for tourism. Lord Howe Island, the most beautiful island of coral reefs, is only allowed to host 400 tourists at any given time, no matter how many want to come.
• There are more kangaroos than humans in Australia, which makes life more adorable. To deal with all those marsupials, experts have concocted kangaroo birth control and a national Kangaroo Management Plan. Another population control -- sniffle, tear, sniffle -- is the kangaroo burger.
  Australians make a vacation out of helping the planet-- on a conservation holiday, you can measure plants in the rainforest or monitor owl species at the base of the Australian Alps
• Everybody in Australia has accents.
• When life gets rough (from eating too much Vegemite or winning too much rugby), Australians can always escape to the perfect blue heaven known as Lake McKenzie.
• In Australia, there are creatures called fairy penguins. After they get home from long days at sea, you can visit their colonies by night.
• The Great Ocean Road, the Aussies' seaside version of Route 66, takes you past some pretty stellar rock formations.
• Australians have the widest steel arch bridge in the world. You may have heard of it.

According to University of Sydney Business School's Dr Stephen Clibborn, the "biggest problem facing immigration authorities" is the increasing number of undocumented immigrant workers in Australia. There are few signs that anything is being done about it despite the systematic exploitation of these workers by employers, according to a report in the Daily Examiner.

UNDOCUMENTED immigrant workers need the same protections as Australian workers, if Australia is to avoid an American-style problem of mass exploitation of illegal workers, says Dr Stephen Clibborn in a submission to the Abbott government’s Productivity Commission review of workplace relations.

Dr Clibborn's submission has warned that Australia faces "the real risk of passing the tipping point that the United States passed many years ago where exploitation of a large undocumented immigrant workforce becomes the norm in some sectors".

He said while there were no hard figures on the extent of the problem, estimates had tipped at least 100,000 undocumented workers in 2011, which he believes has likely risen, due to an extra 62,700 visa over-stayers recorded in July 2013.

Dr Clibborn said a 2011 review of the system described it as the "biggest problem facing immigration authorities", and the lack of protections for workers, and fear of being exposed, was fertile grounds for exploitation.

He also said the Fair Work laws needed better enforcement.

THE RESPONSE FROM DIBP IS AS FOLLOWS:

Hi Liana

As mentioned in my email to you last Thursday, the department is currently conducting an audit of known training funds in response to recent allegations, including from you, of misuse of funds contributed for the purpose of meeting the subclass 457 training benchmark requirements.  I have attached a copy of the correspondence with training funds for your information.

I have just watched the following satire on 'Minister for Men' played by Gretel Killeen.  Covered by Women's Agenda and getting a huge hit rate on YouTube I would like to invite migration agents to watch this for a laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUPWoEEipSc

Have your say.  Do you think that Australia's Prime Minister, Mr Tony Abbott, should give the job of 'Minister for Women' to a woman, or do you think he should be Australia's Minister for Women?