Australia’s migration policy changes with each government. At the turn of the century (1900) it was a policy of “white Australia policy” and a mentality of “populate or perish.” Therefore many white, European immigrants were encouraged to come to Australia to increase our population. There was a policy of “ten-pound poms” to allow those from the UK to migrate to Australia. After WW1, Australia’s politicians wanted to increase the population for national security and to grow the economy.
After WW2, non-UK citizens were encouraged to make Australia home. These included many different Europeans such as the Greek, Italian, German, French and Turkish.
After 1950s, we opened our doors to more non-European immigrants and this included those from Asian descent such as Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and many of these immigrants came as refugees from war torn countries. The conflicts in Lebanon, Serbia, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia were all instrumental in Australia fulfilling its international refugee commitments and allowing migrants from these countries to migrate to Australia.
Under the current Labour government under Anthony Albanese, the policy has shifted to “economic migration” attracting the most talented, qualified and skilled migrants to upskill the workforce and increase the productivity and capacity of the Australian economy. The labour government has increased the restrictions on student visas by imposing several limitations and changes which include: