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MIGRATION TO STAY STRONG

AUSTRALIA'S economy is booming along, with a record 27 low year unemployment figure and a major shortage of skilled workers in virtually every area of the country and in every trade and profession. And high migration levels are not making much impact.

But Prime Minister John Howard expects the jobless level to go even lower in the near future and will introduce far-reaching workplace reforms which will make it easier for business to lay off surplus workers or those that don't fit the job any more.

In view of this we can expect that Australia's immigration target will remain at around the current 110,000 per year and that the need for migrants will certainly continue into the foreseeable future. And with an ageing workforce there will need to be more workers to pay taxes to underpin the Social Security and superannuation systems, which will be in danger of running out of money.

The Prime Minister gained his fourth successive Federal election victory in October, against the odds, but, more importantly will gain control of the Senate (the Upper House) in July. This is the first time in 20 years that the ruling Government has had control of the Senate and means they can introduce legislation and see it passed by the Senate.

Under Australia's Westminster-system of Government, the Senate has members from each State and Territory and can block legislation - literally for ever. During its nine years in power, the Liberal Government has had workplace reforms killed off no fewer than 41 times by the Senate, which was controlled by Labor with the help of Democrats, Greens and Independents.

But from next July the Liberal Government will control the Senate, with a little help from its friends in the National Party and all of its planned legislation will become law.

The Government will focus strongly on unfair dismissal laws as they affect small business but may have to wait until July before it can act effectively.

The sale of Telstra (the Government-owned telecom) also will be on the agenda and is expected to go through, probably next year which will be the biggest-ever float in Australia's history. What to do with the expected $30 billion from the sale will undoubtedly lead to heated debate in Parliament. But whether the money is spent wisely for the country's long-term gain remains to be seen.