Christopher 15

Just announced, the new Minister for Immigration and Citizenship is Chris Bowan.
What changes will be made? I believe one for a little while at least. He will need to get comfortable in his new job first, meet with his advisors etc., and find out from the Prime Minister what the Labor directions for the migration program will be before doing almost anything of any importance.

So let’s hope for a clearer future where we all know what the rules are and that they will stay in play for a reasonable time, such as not changing the rules AFTER an application is lodged.

Jamie Smith

Chris, you mean "none for a little while" I think.

Chris Bowen:

37 years old. Atheist like Combet, Gillard, Roxon and perhaps a few others that think it might cost them votes if word got out.

Like many in the current government, Bowen has never had a "proper job" working in a business that has to earn money from customers, he has always been paid by ratepayers or taxpayers.

At age 25 was elected to a council and then became mayor, before going into politics in a safe Labor seat. Since then has never held a portfolio for more than 18 months.

Has main interest in industrial relations and economics.

* Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law (since 9 Jun 2009)
* Minister for Human Services (since 9 Jun 2009)
* Assistant Treasurer (3 Dec 2007 to 9 Jun 2009)
* Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs (3 Dec 2007 to 9 Jun 2009)
* Shadow Assistant Treasurer (10 Dec 2006 to 6 Dec 2007)
* Shadow Minister for Revenue and Competition Policy (10 Dec 2006 to 6 Dec 2007)
* Entered House of Representatives on 9 October 2004 — General election

The Hon Chris Bowen MP | MP Profile | Q&A | ABC TV

Home - Chris Bowen - Federal Member for McMahon - Minister for Human Services - Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law

My assessment, FWIW, is that some people get promoted because they never screwed up, not because they actually achieved something.

They get put somewhere to stop the boat getting rocked by other people, but can't design or skipper the boat in the first instance.



Note that his portfolios are not about change, all are basically portfolios that require maintenance rather than innovation.
His speeches and public comments are often sympathetic to the disempowered. He always trots out the party line so don't expect him to go against Labor philosophy.

Overall, appears reasonably smart but not a risk taker or innovator. Not good for immigration in terms of new ideas, perhaps.

On the other hand, he seems cautious and MIGHT unwind the pace of Evans' reforms and slow things down a bit eg points test review, reviews of all visa systems etc.

That would be nice!

I think this new Minister is likely to be fairly unsympathetic to business issues (with background in supporting workers and consumer issues ie "victims"), so unlikely to ever speed up or simplify 457 and ENS processing to help employers.

He will err on the side of supposed caution ie slower processing and will be a defender of a ponderous bureaucratic system as that is really all he has ever known.

He may restore labour market testing for 457 and ENS even though it is ponderous, able to be rorted and inefficient.

With his perceived victim protection orientation, he could possibly be more sympathetic to those affected by cap and kill.

I don't see him holding up the SMPs as long has senior DIAC staff verify that the States followed the process laid out by Evans for approval.

I see this appointment as Gillard putting a steadying and more cautious hand on the immigration tiller after Evans' reckless pace of change.

Hopefully the new "safe pair of hands" Minister will see Metcalfe as the vague and political animal that he is and move him along "to further develop his career".

Evans will now be giving Bowen the usual glossy tour.

Now is the time to educate the new Minister about how unfair the system is at present, and how individuals have been treated. That is exactly Bowen's area of interest - supporting the maltreated and disenfranchised.

In a few days I will put up the new contact details for the new Minister, and I suggest EVERYONE let's him know what they think of the immigration system and their own status within it .

intellect20

Thank you Christhopher and Jamie for the update. I will wait for you to send the minister's email so the applicants who have been treated unfairly can raise their voices directly to him.

Christopher 15

The new Minister's details are already available on his own website. But remember that he will not read anything himself, all communication will be opened by staff.

Chris.

Jamie Smith

Let's make sure his pile of messages are focused on sorting the mess

rackspace

atleast he can make sure that applicants who have launched applications, donot get affecting by future policies ...

seban123

So what is gonna happen to the SMP? Are there chances that SMP will not be signed off by the new minister without making his own modificaitons?

moneypenny20

Absolutely no way of knowing anything at this point. Oh people can make suggestions but I'd hope no one on here would take them on board as fact.

moneypenny20

Absolutely no way of knowing anything at this point. People with any amount of intelligence can make suggestions but I'd hope no one on here would take them on board as fact. I wouldn't even bother worrying about it until you see facts appearing on the DIAC site or confirmed as fact on here.

Christopher 15

There is no way known to man, or woman, that we can tell what the new Minister might do to any list presented to him. Remember he is on a very steep learning curve, going from knowing nothing to hopefully knowing something. Lets hope he doesnt let his advisors run the show.

I doubt he will make and significiant changes immediatelly, he will play safe I think.

Cheers

dream208

dears,

the contact details for the new minister are out, you can find them below:

Chris Bowen as the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

For issues relating to Chris Bowen's duties as the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship please use the following contact details.

Address:
Chris Bowen MP
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Parliament House
M1/24
Canberra ACT 2600

Telephone: 02 6277 7200
Fax: 02 6273 4406
Email: [email protected]

Electorate office:
Chris Bowen MP
115 The Crescent
Fairfield NSW 2165

Postal address:
Chris Bowen MP
PO Box 802
Fairfield NSW 1860
Australia

Weebie

[QUOTE

Now is the time to educate the new Minister about how unfair the system is at present, and how individuals have been treated. That is exactly Bowen's area of interest - supporting the maltreated and disenfranchised.

In a few days I will put up the new contact details for the new Minister, and I suggest EVERYONE let's him know what they think of the immigration system and their own status within it .[/QUOTE]

How is the System unfair?? This is the easiest westernised country in the world to migrate to you either have the skills or you don't.

Immigration will be cracked down it has to be. This country has let evey man and its dog in within the past 10 years. This Labor government will go very soon if they don't and they're well aware of it.

mrsgreenstar76

I presume you're already there? I wonder if you would have been saying such a thing if you were still in the boat that many of us are in currently. Whether it is unfair or not, I don't know. I don't think I'm qualified to judge, but from the perspective of still being in the queue and having had the goalposts changed on more than one occasion, I can say that it does seem unfair. I imagine that there would have been people in the country who would have been saying the same thing about "letting every man and his dog in" whilst you were waiting your turn.

JAJ

Why should he? If half a million cooks or IT practitioners suddenly apply, I don't think you'll find many Australians in agreement that they all have an entitlement to migrate.

Only Australian citizens have an entitlement to be in Australia.

Jamie Smith

Hi Jeremy

DIAC can count. If any one occupation dominates the applications, why not signal and then remove the occupation from the lists?

Countless times I have suggested to various DIAC managers that they should put info on the DIAC website about the maxmim in visa numbers allocated or expected per subclass and/or occupation, the numbers approved and the numbers queued so far.

That would show the numbers to go before capping. Would also tell the industry and the applicant what chance they have of seeing the process through for that year. More importantly it would guide agents to market to low count subsegments that were not coming in with good numbers - assuming of course that DIAC's allocation of numbers by class and occupation is appropriate.