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Article: Enough for now: Australia. (immigration policy)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 11, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WITH a vast swathe of territory to fill up, Australia has for most of this century welcomed immigrants. "Populate or perish" has been the country's watchword. Now that cry is heard less. The immigration minister, Nick Bolkus, announced in May a quota of 86,000 migrants for the next 12 months. This is 10,000 more than the year before, but includes 8,300 Chinese students already in Australia who want to stay. With the number of departures not much smaller than arrivals, Australia's population will remain little changed at 17m.
Because of the recession, the yearly quota had already been cut back from the high levels of the 1980s. In 1988, the peak year, there were ...