Craig Hill Media and Consulting
Immigration Department
Australians don’t have skills to work on farms
Onion and carrot grower Yvonne Smith knows how hard it is to find highly skilled workers. Ms Smith, 48, grows 85ha of onions and 30ha of carrots with her husband at Bowhill, on the Murray River east of Adelaide. The couple would like to expand their production, but the main factor slowing them down is … Continue reading
Australia’s military takes over border protection; SAS commander in charge
Deputy Chief of Army Angus Campbell will be named Tony Abbott‘s three-star military commander of border protection, with the job of co-ordinating the new government’s tough asylum-seeker policies. The former SAS commander and deputy National Security Adviser has emerged as Defence’s choice to head up the 16 departments and agencies under the Coalition’s Operation Sovereign … Continue reading
Australia’s Nauru asylum centre faces legal challenge
Australia’s asylum seeker processing centre on Nauru will face a legal challenge in the Pacific island nation’s Supreme Court. The case involves 10 asylum seekers who are facing rioting and wilful damage charges. Australian-based barrister Jay Williams, who is representing the detainees, told a Nauruan magistrates court on Wednesday he had been refused access to … Continue reading
Australian Immigration Department criticises government policy as “harsh”
The head of the Immigration Department has sharply criticised the Gillard government‘s decision to increase federal court fees since 2010, arguing the policy has had “harsh” and “unintended” consequences on refugee clients. It is highly unusual for one of the government’s own departments to criticise policy in such a strident way, but in a letter … Continue reading
Adultery is now a reason for asylum in Australia
An adulterous Iraqi taxi driver has been awarded an Australian refugee visa after he convinced the Refugee Review Tribunal he would be hunted down by an infuriated husband who caught him in an tryst with his wife. The Shia refugee, who arrived by boat from Indonesia in December 2011, claimed the husband, an Iraqi soldier, … Continue reading
Asylum-seeker boat arrival numbers increase in Australia
The number of asylum-seekers coming to Australia by boat surged in the first 2 1/2 months of this year, with a 55 per cent spike in arrivals compared to the same period last year. Almost 1900 people have arrived in the first 73 days of this year, compared with 1209 for the same period last year, … Continue reading
Australian opposition party says asylum-seeker bridging visa system is out of control
Tony Abbott insists the government needs to do more to monitor asylum-seekers who he says are just “disappearing” into the community. Backing comments by his immigration spokesman Scott Morrison, the Opposition Leader said not enough was being done to keep tabs on asylum-seekers released from immigration detention on bridging visas – a claim denied by … Continue reading
Australian detention centres are “Fawlty Towers” of global immigration community
In a star-studded field of dysfunctional federal government departments it is difficult to nominate the standout performer. Customs and Border Protection is beset with serious corruption and a declining ability to check incoming cargo for illegal firearms and drugs. The Australian Crime Commission apparently sees more danger in performance-enhancing supplements than illegal drugs, suburban gunbattles … Continue reading
Craig Hill Media and Consulting 