Under the changes to the citizenship rules unveiled by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday, applicants are required to be permanent residents for four years rather than 12 months, face a stand-alone English test and commit to embracing Australian values.
Australia on Tuesday abolished a visa programme used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country.
Australia's decision to stop the inflow of skilled foreign workers comes after both United States and UK chose to adopt protectionism for their local talent, and ensuring they get the job first, rather than any other person from any other country.
"We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians", he added. "The capacity for businesses to hire temporary workers to fill genuine skill shortages has been an overall boon for Australia, allowing the economy to ride out volatile economic cycles - including in the mining industry", said Jennifer Westacott, CEO, Business Council. "Senior Australian officials have conveyed to us that the impact of the changes will be negligible on Indian workers, most of whom fall in high skill category", the official statement said.
The Australian government chose to abolish 457 visas because it has "lost its credibility", Turnbull said at a press conference in Canberra after his Facebook post.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has brushed off suggestions he is channelling Donald Trump as the government embarks on a wider immigration and citizenship crackdown.
A list of 650 occupations that now qualify for a temporary visa will be cut by 200 and applicants must have previous work experience.
North Korea's threat and the Japanese-American alliance
Neither the United States nor the South Korean government is able to identify what type of missile was involved. Thornton said any new North Korean nuclear test "would draw a pretty significant global response".
Master Builders Australia chief executive officer Denita Wawn said her organisation welcomed the changes and looked forward to working with the government to ensure that the new program was sufficiently flexible to the needs of the building sector.
"The fact that somebody might fudge an answer on a test or an application is no argument against us asking people if you want to become an Australian citizen, abide by our laws and our norms", Mr Dutton said.
'What we're doing is strengthening our multicultural society and strengthening our commitment to Australian values'.
The nuts and bolts of the policy behind the announcement have not yet been made public, but One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has already claimed credit for the changes.
The government claimed that the 457 visa was allegedly being used by companies to bring low-cost workers from overseas.
"Hear it here first - we're putting jobs first and we're putting Australians first by abolishing 457 visas".
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