Facebook
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has cut 21,000 places from Australia’s annual immigration intake. That’s a 10 percent reduction, making it the lowest in over a decade. The change is the result of stronger vetting rules, put in place as part of a crackdown on fraudulent visa claims. In particular, they’re targeting false documentation, as well as overstating qualifications.The Australian have reported that so called “integrity measures” have seen a 46 per cent increase in visa refusals. The biggest impact was on family stream visas, especially relating to spouses. They dropped by nearly 15 percent.Dutton has said the move is a way to restore integrity to the migration program. Speaking to the Nine Network he explained: "I want to make sure that we scrutinise each application so that we're getting the best possible migrants - people who are going to work, not be on welfare, people who are going to integrate into our community."Currently, the annual ceiling on migration is 190,000. But Dutton is pushing for it to be dropped to 170,000. He also accused Labor governments of "ticking and flicking applications" to hit that number.