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LORD CAITHNESS' WORKING DINNER WITH AUSTRALIAN
FOREIGN MINISTER, SENATOR GARETH EVANS: 19 MARCH 1992
Background/key facts
Immigration/right of abode
1. The Australian Government are sympathetic to the problems Hong Kong faces. They are one of the major trading partners of Hong Kong and they realise that it is in their
own national interests to keep Hong Kong prosperous.
2. The Australian community in Hong Kong is 10,000 strong and there are 300 Australian companies based there.
Hong Kong is Australia's fourth largest market for exports,
their third largest source of migrants and their largest
source of business migrants.
3.
However, despite the importance of Hong Kong's continued
stability and prosperity to Australia, the Australian
Government have been unwilling to set up a scheme specifically for Hong Kong. They take the view that their existing worldwide immigration policy gives sufficient flexibility and scope for certain categories of persons eg
employees of Australian companies in Hong Kong and other
businessmen, in practical terms to defer permanent residence
in Australia for a number of years after having been granted residency status. Such arrangements are excellent for
employees of Australian companies (who, once accepted for
migration, can keep open Australian residence by spending
just one day in Australia every five years), but for others
not ideal: the individuals concerned would have to spend a
proportion of their time in Australia, thereby disrupting their lives in Hong Kong. The Australians last year announced an end to the arrangements for business migrants,
the Business Migrants Programme (BMP), which had been
heavily criticised as a way of buying entry to Austalia and
was also believed to be open to abuse by organised crime.
JH2ADR/3
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