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Senate debates new points scheme By Lance Fee,Director Live Downunder UK THE upper house of the Australian Federal Parliament, the Senate, considered a debate by the opposition parties who attempted to disallow the changes that removed points for Australian families prepared to sponsor their relatives under the skilled visa programme as from September 1. Under the skilled family sponsored migration pathways that had been in place over the last 10 years, anyone with close family living in Australia could be sponsored by them and, as a result, attract a further 15 points under the points test. From September 1, this option was removed and although the pass mark for family sponsored applicants fell to 100 points, it still left this group with five points short under the new scheme. The issue debated in the Senate was that the move was not in the best interests to the long-term migration policy of family reunion. There were also other changes that accompanied this move, such as the removal of the bond that had been required by family sponsors in Australia and the dropping of the Sydney sponsorship restrictions, both changes for the better. The Senate is controlled by Government members, thus the disallowance motion was defeated along party lines. The Senate, which is the House or Review in the Australian Parliament in the past, has not had the advantage of a majority of Government members. This had led to several Regulation changes in the past being disallowed. With the elections due before Christmas in Australia and the strong possibility that the government may lose control of the Senate, it will be interesting to see what changes in the Migration Regulations could come into effect in 2008. |
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