Australia welcomes six millionth immigrant
Hard-line Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock today hugged Australia’s six millionth migrant since the Second World War - a Filipino computer expert.
Ruddock leads Australia’s increasingly tough stance against illegal immigrants, but his department also accepts thousands of skilled workers who formally apply to migrate each year.
He welcomed Cristina Jurado after she arrived at Sydney airport today with her husband Carlo and their children, six-year-old Jolo and three-year-old Lara.
Jurado said she was looking forward to building a new life in her adopted home.
‘‘Australia is a better country, the economy is healthy, the future for my children is better that’s for sure,’’ Jurado said. ‘‘There are a lot of opportunities for young migrants like us.’’
The 29-year-old systems analyst and her husband, a 32-year-old production engineer, have been accepted under Australia’s skilled migration program.
However, amid growing domestic concern about illegal immigration, Australian authorities have since August cracked down on those arriving without official permission.
Canberra uses warships to patrol waters between Indonesia and northern Australia to prevent people smugglers dumping boatloads of asylum seekers along the remote coastline.
Those caught are sent to detention centres set up by Australia on the impoverished Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru until their asylum applications have been processed.
