HEADLINES : Students planning to apply for PR must read this

Regional cities and universities could benefit from an influx of new immigrants, writes Bob Birrell.

The Opposition Leader, Mark Latham has delivered some common sense on multiculturalism. Mark Latham's comments about immigration policy are not so convincing. Given present policy settings, Sydney and Melbourne will each grow by another million people - Sydney over the next 20 years and Melbourne over the next 30. Net overseas migration will be the main source of growth.

The growth may be more; on April 1 the Coalition Government announced further increases in the skill intake.

Sydney as well as the other major cities are not able to cope with recent population growth. Peak- hour traffic is close to gridlocked; house and land prices have escalated in part because planning authorities are corralling residents within strict urban growth boundaries.

Latham has declared a "house full" notice for Sydney. Other big cities are next to follow. But rather than advocating a reduction to the migration intake, he has endorsed a Chifley Foundation report published last year which recommended that a Labor government locate 45 per cent of a sustained intake in regional areas.

Bob Carr, the premier of New South Wales, is right. Given the attraction of big-city family and community links for most skilled migrants, as well as the superior job prospects of the metropolises, the only way to take the pressure off Sydney and Melbourne is to reduce the immigration intake.

Latham has also announced the removal of Adelaide from the Regional city list from 2005.

Nonetheless, migration policy can be reformed to enhance regional economic prospects. Since the late 1990s most of the growth in the skilled migration intake has come from former overseas students. If they apply for permanent residence within six months of graduation from courses accredited at the professional level, they are now likely to gain a visa.

The Department of Immigration has since been swamped by applications. The main reason why the immigration intake was increased on April 1 was to accommodate the flood of eligible applicants. The pass mark was raised at the same time to cap future eligibility.

Australia's overseas education industry is being driven in large part by this arrangement. The fastest enrolment growth has occurred in Accounting and IT master's degree programs which provide the shortest and cheapest entry point to meet immigration selection standards.

There are merits to this situation. Australia gains migrants trained to our standards but at their expense. University fees (about $30,000) for a two-year course can be read as the purchase price for a visa. So even though they will add to congestion costs (almost all are in Sydney and Melbourne), they at least make an indirect contribution to the wellbeing of Australia's higher education system.

The only solution to that overseas students enter Australia through regional universities would be to limit the right to onshore change-of-status to overseas students who complete their courses at a regional campus. This would result in only students from regional universities be eligible for a PR. This would give these campuses a major boost in enrolments and income.

The students themselves are unlikely to stay in the regions as they would move away to bigger cities once their course ends. However, they would be contributing to the enhancement of campuses vital to the prospects of regional centres being able to attract "new economy" industries which is exactly what the Australian government wants.

Bob Birrell is director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University.

SOURCE - The Sydney Morning Herald
Email us at universityguide@emailbox.com.au