A young Spanish woman living in Australia was reduced to tears while discussing the Albanese government’s visa reforms, saying the “unfair” system could stop her from staying in the country.
The Labor government announced a sweeping overhaul of Australia’s migration system this week. The changes include limiting access to extended working holiday visas and making it more difficult for temporary migrants to remain in Australia by repeatedly moving between visa categories.
Speaking to Our News Outlet at Bondi Beach, the Spanish woman, who is studying hospitality management in Sydney, broke down in tears.
“It makes me really upset because this country, this government gets a lot of money from people like us who pay a large amount of money to obtain a visa,” she said.
“Now, if they make it harder for us to extend our visas, how are we supposed to stay here if they don’t really want us to? They don’t really want us to.”
“This country is supposed to offer us more opportunities to earn money.”
“But why? If the country needs workers, and we’re giving this country our money, what’s the point of making all visas so difficult to obtain?”
She said many Bondi residents were from overseas and asked: “If we leave, what are they going to do? There are so many people.”
A young Spanish woman living in Australia was brought to tears over the Albanese government’s visa reforms
The woman criticised the government’s decision to tighten visa rules for migrants who contribute to Australia’s workforce, arguing that the government also benefits from their presence.
“What does the government want? To make money from our work? Every time you work, you pay taxes,” she said.
“More workers means more taxes. That’s me: more income for the government. Or do you want us to leave and then have no workers? What do they want?”
A friend of the woman, who is also from Spain, said she had been in Australia for almost a year on a working holiday visa.
Speaking to Our News Outlet, she said finding work had been difficult and criticised the government’s proposed migration changes.
“I think it’s really unfair because many people go to the countryside to do farm work and try to extend their visas. I think we help fill jobs that Australian people may not want,” she said.
“At the end of the day, I think all of us are here to earn money and contribute to the country as well.”
“I think it’s a good opportunity for all of us, both foreign people and Australian people.”
The young woman took issue with the government’s decision to make visas harder for those contributing to the Australian workforce, which she said the government benefits from
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced the measures at the National Press Club on Thursday, warning that cutting migration too deeply could harm the economy
One of the reforms introduces a backpacker ballot. Under the system, people seeking a second-year working holiday visa will have to enter a ballot for one of 45,000 places, down from about 57,000 applicants who qualified last year.
Backpackers seeking a third-year working holiday visa will have to enter a ballot for one of just 5,000 places, down from about 31,000 people who qualified last year.
‘I think it’s unfair. Why [do] others have more opportunity than us, for example?’ she said, adding that making the system harder could fail.
‘I think it’s not gonna work in the future and probably many foreign people, international people are going to complain about it. And we have to do something, I don’t know what, but I hope.’
The first young woman said she believed the ballot system was ‘very unfaithful’, her voice breaking as she turned away for a moment.
‘I’m not gonna have any chance to stay here,’ she said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced the wave of measures at the National Press Club on Thursday, warning that cutting migration too deeply could damage the economy.
‘The times that we’ve had massive reductions too far in immigration have coincided with the worst economic times in Australia’s history. We need to be careful with it, and I’m being careful with it.’
A friend of the young woman, who is also from Spain, said that, although she has been looking for jobs, ‘it’s been difficult’
Burke said the government wanted a clearer distinction between temporary and permanent migration.
‘If you want to come on a temporary basis to Australia, apply for a temporary visa. If you want to come to Australia permanently, apply for a permanent visa. And if you no longer have a valid visa, you should leave Australia.’
Under one of the biggest changes, international students and graduate visa holders will no longer automatically be able to bring family members with them.
‘For international students, we will no longer be allowing the attaching of family members to international student or for graduate visas,’ Burke said.
The changes will not affect partners or family members who are already in Australia on an existing visa.
Working holiday-makers will also face tougher rules when seeking to remain in Australia for a second or third year – because of the Australia-UK free trade agreement.
Visitor visas will also be tightened to prevent people entering Australia as tourists and then switching to another visa while onshore.
At present, a visitor can apply for another visa after arriving in Australia and potentially remain on a bridging visa while that application is processed.
Burke said the practice had contributed to visa-hopping and made authorities more reluctant to approve some genuine visitor visa applications.
Under the new system, many visitor visas will carry a ‘No further stay’ condition, generally preventing holders from applying for another visa while they remain in Australia.
International students will also be prevented from repeatedly moving between courses at the same or lower qualification level in an attempt to extend their stay.
