Dear Guest,

On 18 May 2007, I had the pleasure of meeting with the Hon Kevin Andrews MP, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.

A federal election will be held later this year in Australia and I wanted to understand his vision if the current government was to be re-elected. We also took the opportunity to make a number of policy recommendations, including a suggestion to increase the Skilled migration age cut-off to 50-55, instead of the current 45. We recognise that Australia is competing with the rest of the world for skilled workers, such as you and believe that we may be missing out on a large pool of highly skilled and experienced workers who could make a major contribution to Australia’s economic prosperity..

The Minister was receptive to the proposals and we look forward to future talks with the government to discuss other issues that affect Australian immigration and ensure the voice of prospective migrants is heard. If you have any comments on current policies, please share them with me here. We also recently sent our Advisors to Skilled Migration seminars in Queensland and Victoria in preparation for the upcoming changes to General Skilled Migration on 1 September 2007, to ensure you receive the very best advice. Please remember – if you’re eligible now, we strongly recommend you consider proceeding now to avoid any negative impact on your eligibility.

Assyl Haidar with the Minister

Your journey to Australia starts with LIVE IN australia.com.

Simply click on the links below to automatically scroll down the page of the latest LIVE IN australia.com news. Click on 'TOP' to return to the top of the page:

1. A mouth-watering stake in Australia for Meat Workers
2. Got a Trade? Take your ticket to Victoria
3. Aussie Surprise of the Month
4. Top prospects in the Top End
5. A Town like Albany
6. Australia’s Opportunity Thermometer Hits New Highs
7. Aussie Recipe: Aussie Pizza
8. In Brief

A mouth-watering stake in Australia for Meat Workers

Skilled meat workers will be granted temporary entry under a three-year labour agreement finalised by Kevin Andrews, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, and Margaret Quirk, West Australian Minister for Small Business. An extremely low unemployment rate in Western Australian has resulted in a shortage of skilled workers in the meat industry.

For skilled immigrants, there are strict skills assessments to qualify them for a minimum salary of AU$41,850 (the standard minimum salary level), or the relevant industrial wage, whichever is higher.

The Australian government’s plan is that the new agreement will provide West Australian meat companies with a high priority solution to the shortage, while providing local training, to make sure that the jobs of Australian workers are protected.

Western Australia is crying out for skilled workers, Guest, and LIVE IN australia.com can help you get there.

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Got a Trade? Take your ticket to Victoria
“The Victorian Government wants to attract more skilled and business migrants to Victoria and maximise their contribution to our economic development through skills, investment and jobs,” said Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, in London recently.

The Victorian economy continues to grow and needs skilled workers across a range of industries including engineering, teaching and construction. Victoria’s share of skilled and business migrants has increased from 19 per cent in 1999 to around 25 per cent in 2007. The UK is Victoria’s second largest source of skilled migrants.

British nurse, Fiona Denton–Bell, currently an Occupational Health Advisor with the British Transport Police, is moving with her three children to Geelong, to be a nursing agency Health and Safety Advisor.

"Professionally the area has several organisations which need people with my type of experience. The schools are ideal for my children and the standards of education are excellent," said Ms Denton-Bell.

British carpenter Bob Viner, along with his wife Jane and their four children, moved to Geelong in 2005, seeking a new lease on life.

"I was travelling two hours each way to work in London, seven days a week," Mr. Viner said. "We wanted a change and decided to take the plunge and migrate." Bob and Jane’s decision to choose Victoria was based on lifestyle, climate and work opportunities. Now they can’t imagine living anywhere else.

"My carpentry skills are in high demand in Victoria so finding work was easy," Mr. Viner said.

These are just some of the Victorian industries with vacancies:

Health Professionals - dentists, midwives, nurses, radiation therapists, hospital pharmacists and occupational therapists
Hospitality trades
Automotive trades - motor mechanics, auto electricians, panel beaters
IT Professionals - IT programmers, managers and computer system auditors
Teachers - pre-primary and kindergarten
Mechanical and fabrication engineers - fitters, metal machinists, toolmakers and 1st Class welder and sheet metal workers
Construction – roofers, tilers and carpenters and joiners.

There are also demands in hairdressing, marine construction, furniture trades and cabinet making.

LIA’s Head office is in Melbourne, so we’re a great place to help you pursue a new life in Victoria.

General Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria%2C_Australia
Check out the State: http://www.visitvictoria.com/

Sound good? Let LIVE IN australia.com help secure your permanent residency today!

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Aussie Surprise of the Month

The Bionic Ear.
Here’s another surprise in the field of science. As you might know the cochlear implant (Bionic Ear) is an artificial hearing device, designed to produce useful hearing sensations by electrically stimulating nerves inside the inner ear. What you may not know is this remarkable device was invented in Melbourne.

Following the pioneering work of Professor Graeme Clark with the world’s first multi-channel cochlear implant in 1978, the Cochlear Implant Clinic (CIC) was established in 1982. Today, the CIC is based at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne, as a joint University of Melbourne and hospital clinic.

The CIC has worked closely with the University of Melbourne, the Bionic Ear Institute and Cochlear Ltd, in providing implants and hearing to hundreds of people, ranging from 7 months to 89 years old. Surgical techniques and research studies are constantly being developed to keep the CIC standards at the forefront of the cochlear implant field.

Cochlear Implant Clinic:
http://www.medoto.unimelb.edu.au/mhg/cicabout.html

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Top prospects in the Top End

‘The Top End’ is a colloquial term for Australia’s Northern Territory (NT). A vast 1,420,968 km² (548,639 sq mi), the Top End is home to just 207,700 people.

Its capital, Darwin (population 111,300), is closer to the capitals of East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia than to Canberra. Right now, the Northern Territory needs skilled people for its vast resources industry, as well as spectacularly diverse tourism and other service industries. See Chinese, Greek, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese translations of a Business and Skilled Migration strategy summary on this site:
http://www.migration.nt.gov.au/

Government: http://www.nt.gov.au/
Details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin%2C_Northern_Territory
Tourism: http://www.travelnt.com/en/

If you want a relaxed lifestyle with an ideal economic climate for investment and business development, talk to LIA today, Guest.

The Olgas - Northern Territory

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The Albany region is blessed with a comfortable Mediterranean climate with sunny winter days and cool summer nights. The main employers in Albany are tourism, fishing, agriculture and service industries. Until the 1950s, it was also a whaling and sealing station. Albany is a good base for those seeking to take advantage of the Western Australian resources boom. Albany is a very attractive place to live and prosper, with excellent resources and support networks.

Many families live in coastal communities with ocean views, in modern homes with every convenience … and friendly neighbours. Alternatively, you may live in the countryside on a few acres, where you can grow your own vegetables, keep horses, and cultivate a small orchard or vineyard.

Albany is well served with primary and secondary schools, has a University of WA Campus, and a WA College of Agriculture Campus at nearby Denmark.

Albany profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany%2C_Western_Australia
Albany City Council: http://www.albany.wa.gov.au/website/page.php?folder=1
The University of WA: http://www.albany.uwa.edu.au/fmi/xsl/index.xsl

Albany - Western Australia

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The Australian Institute of Management's (AIM) National Salary Survey 2007 reveals that big company staff turnover was 12.6 per cent for 2006-07, up from 11.5 per cent the previous year and 9.9 per cent in 2003-04.

While 34 per cent of large companies employ staff from overseas, as many as 63.8 per cent indicated they were willing to employ overseas candidates to cover the skills shortfall.

Most of the skilled migrants come from Asia (48 per cent) and Britain (44 per cent), and new arrivals primarily fill construction and engineering roles. The survey also found that the resource boom states of Western Australia and Queensland recorded the highest pay rises, at 6.8 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively.

The highest salary increases, at 6.1 per cent, were in the mining and quarrying sector. This was followed by banking and finance (5.7 per cent) and construction and engineering (5.6 per cent).

Electronics and IT salary increases reached 3.2 per cent, while manufacturing/food/beverage/tobacco hit 4 per cent.

Australian Institute of Management:
http://www.aim.com.au/publications/salarysurvey.html

Take advantage of our booming economy, Guest, and secure your future in Australia now.

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Aussie Recipe: Aussie Pizza
Just in case you thought the words ‘Aussie’ and ‘pizza’ belong in different hemispheres, Australian pizza teams were judged the best in the world in 2004 and 2005, competing against teams from the US, Canada, Italy, France and New Zealand. Australia’s winning entry was topped by stuffed calamari and warm seared scallops, watercress and chive salad and featured two different types of mozzarella.

‘Yum’, you might say. But how about trying the Aussie Pizza enjoyed all around the nation.

Ultra quick pizza dough: Mix self-raising flour with yogurt (skim milk yogurt or what ever you prefer) to make a kneadable dough. Quantities vary depending on yogurt used, approx 11/2 C SR flour for a large pizza. Spread out onto baking sheet.

Topping: Top with any pizza base tomato sauce, Australian mozzarella cheese, ham, and crack an egg on top.

Preheat lightly oiled pizza pan in hot oven, transfer pizza to preheated pan and cook in hot oven. This helps keep a crisp bottom.

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And the rains came …
Following a protracted drought caused by several years of back to back el niño climatic events, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology is cautiously predicting a return to ‘normal’ rainfall conditions for southern Australia. This would be good news for many city and town storages, which are currently low. A heavy snow season could mean a big spring melt, which would be good for southern river systems. For more information, see http://www.bom.gov.au/

Don’t wait, do it now
Don’t forget: changes to the General Skilled Migration program are coming! Any applications made on or before 31 August 2007 will not be affected by these changes. So, if you have been thinking seriously about bringing your skills to Australia, now is the time to talk to an Advisor at LIA.

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Aussie words in action: Talk to LIA about joining thousands of skilled sandgropers earning big money in the WA resources boom.

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Best Regards,

Peter Seers
Marketing & Client Services Manager