If you're new here, you may be interested to know that you can receive all of our latest articles directly to your inbox. Click Here for more info. We promise to keep your email safe and will use it for only this purpose

The Rudd Government is going to announce its latest budget tonight with an expected deficit of about $60 billion most likely making the biggest headline.

For those looking at making the move down under however, the slashing of a further 7000 places from the general skilled migration intake will be the news that hurts the most!

The cut will take the general skilled migration intake for the next financial year to 108,000.

Added to the decision in March to axe 18,500 places, the total reduction of 25,500 will constitute a 20 per cent cut to the program. Read the full story

Article Popularity: 12%

Not the best news for wannabe migrants I’m afraid. In a bid to protect Australian jobs, the Federal Government is cutting the intake of skilled migrant workers – removing virtually all the trades from the program.

In a sign of the times, the permanent skilled migration program is being slashed by 18,000 over the next three months, with no foreign bricklayers, plumbers, carpenters or electricians allowed in for the foreseeable future.

And the migrant worker program is likely to be cut back further in the May budget.

From the press release issued by The Aussie Ministry for Immigration and Citizenship:

The changes to the program are:

* A 14 per cent cut in the 2008-09 permanent skilled migration program intake from 133 500 to 115 000.
* Removing building and manufacturing trades from the Critical Skills List, such as bricklayers, plumbers, welders, carpenters and metal fitters. The list will now comprise mainly health and medical, engineering and IT professions.

These changes follow measures announced in December that resulted in only those migrants sponsored by an employer or in an occupation on the Critical Skills List being granted visas under the permanent skilled migration program.

Almost half of the permanent visas granted are to applicants already living and working in Australia.

The Critical Skills List will remain under constant review and the Government will remove occupations from the list if demand for those skills can be satisfied by local labour.

The overwhelming message from business and industry is that Australia still needs to maintain a skilled migration program but one that is more targeted so that migrant workers are meeting skills shortages and not competing with locals for jobs.

There are still skills shortages in some sectors, such as healthcare, and these measures will enable industry to continue to source the skilled professionals they need while protecting local jobs and the wages and conditions of Australian workers.

What this means for those migrants who have already applied I’m not to sure but the short term outlook isn’t that great!

As always, when we have more news we’ll report it here at gettingdownunder.com

Related links:  

Discussions in our forums on the news  :   Click Here
Press release:  http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/media-releases/2009/ce09030.htm

Article Popularity: 16%

We’re well past Christmas however Kevin Rudds Government continues with the handouts, announcing today that Low and middle-income earners will receive a $950 bonus as part of an extra $42 billion of spending in its latest bid to defy the economic gravity that is dragging down economies around the world.

The spending package, over the next four years, includes $28.8 billion for infrastructure, schools and housing, as well as $12.7 billion cash payments. The payments include one-off bonus payments of $950 each for low- and middle-income households and individuals through five bonuses, to be paid in March, 2009 Read the full story

Article Popularity: 19%

The South Australian Government has finally reinstated the capital investment pathway to Australian skilled migration for those who lodged their visa application before September 1, 2007.

After 13 months of patient waiting, those skilled migrants wishing move to Australia using capital investment scheme can now finally proceed with their Australian visa application.

On the 1st September 2007, as part of changes to the Australian General Skilled Migration programme, the Australian government removed the right to gain five extra bonus points towards an Australian skilled migration application if the applicant invested a minimum $100,000 for at least one year in a nominated Australian bond.

The removal of the capital investment scheme meant that applications for skilled migration lodged after September 1, 2007 could no longer use the capital investment scheme to gain bonus points towards their application.

After reports of a scam involving unauthorised loans, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) then ruled that the capital investment scheme would no longer be open to any applications, even if they submitted their visa applications before September 1. This affected thousands of migrant hopefuls, who until now have been left without a pathway to Australian migration.

The South Australian Government Financing Authority (SAFA) is now officially reinstating the capital investment scheme for the General Skilled Migration program (bonus points for capital investment). However, this applies only to those applicants who applied under this category before 1st September 2007, and were instructed by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to invest a minimum $100,000 for at least one year in a nominated Australian bond.

As it has been over a year since applications for migration under this category have been allowed, eligible applicants are encouraged to consult their migration agents before proceeding with their application to ensure they are eligible.

Applicants are also warned that the processing times of applications may be considerably delayed due to the expected influx of applications under this re-opened pathway to Australian skilled migration.

To discuss this change please feel free to post a response to the thread started in our forums here.

Article Source : visabureau.com

Article Popularity: 15%

The Australian Government has announced a relaxation in its policy affecting the purchase of real estate by temporary residents living in Australia.

Currently, all temporary residents and non-residents (including businesses) must notify the Australian Government through the Foreign Investment Review Board of their intention to acquire residential real estate, and must comply with post-purchase conditions on its use, development and resale.

The Australian Government considers that:

“The current arrangements have not been updated since 1989 and are consequently poorly targeted. They restrict housing market flexibility and impose unnecessary costs and delay on around 7,500 foreign residents and businesses receiving approval each year. Residential real estate comprises more than 92 per cent of applications received each year by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The changes will streamline notification arrangements, reducing post purchase conditions on the development of single blocks of vacant land, and aligning the definition of temporary residents with contemporary visa categories.

Restrictions aimed at encouraging the supply of new dwellings and preventing excess demand in the housing market will be retained, for example, the rule requiring non‑residents to purchases new rather than buying existing dwellings.”

More specifically:

From the 18th of December, 2008:

Temporary residents purchasing second hand dwellings

The definition of ‘temporary resident’ includes all foreign persons living in Australia on a valid visa, irrespective of the expiry date of that visa. This includes people on bridging visas pending the outcome of a substantive visa application (eg if they have applied for permanent residency) but, for example, does not include short-term visitors such as tourists, business people and those here for a medical procedure.

Foreign students resident in Australia are no longer subject to a $300,000 limit on the value of an established dwelling purchased as their principal place of residence.

Vacant residential land

Acquisitions by foreign-owned companies, trust estates and non-resident foreign persons of single blocks of vacant residential land are required to build a dwelling within a period of 24 months (previously within 12 months and development expenditure of at least 50 per cent of land cost).

The conditions previously applied to acquisitions by temporary residents of single blocks of vacant residential land no longer apply (such acquisitions will be exempt after the Regulations are amended in early 2009).

‘Single blocks’ of vacant land generally refers to a block of land on which only a single dwelling could be constructed. This does not include large tracts of land (eg for the purpose of subdivision) or multiple adjacent single blocks (eg to develop a multi-dwelling apartment complex) – additional development conditions may apply to such acquisitions.

New dwellings

The existing requirement that only 50 per cent of new dwellings can be sold to foreign persons on an ‘off the plan’ basis has been removed provided developers market locally as well as overseas. Vendors are no longer required to have concurrently developed a similar dwelling in order to be able to sell a new stand-alone dwelling to a foreign person. This will be reviewed after two years.

A ‘new dwelling’ is currently defined as having never been occupied or sold; this now includes dwellings that have not been sold but that have been rented out for no more than 12 months.

Foreign companies purchasing second hand dwellings

Foreign-owned companies can now purchase established dwellings for the use of their Australian based staff provided that they sell or rent the dwelling if it is expected to remain vacant for more than 6 months. There is no limit to the number of established dwellings which can be purchased, where required for employee accommodation.
Redevelopment of second hand dwellings

A proposed redevelopment must increase the number of dwellings and no rental income can be obtained from the existing dwelling prior to demolition. Such redevelopments are required to demolish the existing dwelling and commence construction of the new dwellings within 24 months in line with vacant land (previously 12 months), and development expenditure must be at least 50 per cent of the purchase price of the property.

From February 2009 – Subject to Approval of Amendments to the Applicable Regulations

Temporary residents’ exemption
Temporary residents will not be required to notify proposed acquisitions of:

* an established dwelling for their own residence (not for investment purposes);
* any new dwellings; and
* single blocks of vacant residential land (other acquisitions of vacant land will require notification and will normally be approved subject to development within 24 months).

The exemption will include acquisitions of property by temporary residents via their wholly owned trust or Australian incorporated company.

The existing notification requirements will continue to apply to non-residents, who must notify all proposed acquisitions of residential real estate.

Accommodation facilities

Accommodation facilities such as resorts and hotels will be treated as commercial real estate rather than residential real estate. Acquisitions of such facilities – or individual units within them – valued below the relevant developed commercial property threshold ($5 million for heritage listed property, $50 million for non-heritage listed property or $953 million for US investors) will be exempt from the FATA and will not require notification and approval.

Streamlined administrative procedures

Streamlined administrative procedures will be established for foreign-owned companies, trust estates and non-resident foreign persons to notify and receive approval for proposed acquisitions of vacant residential land and newly constructed dwellings. New application forms and statutory notices will be introduced to facilitate the streamlined procedures.

Developers will no longer be issued advance approval for sales of new dwellings to foreign persons – all non-resident foreign purchasers must submit individual applications (although developers may submit these on behalf of the purchaser/s). Temporary residents will be exempt and not required to notify.

Weblink:   http://www.firb.gov.au/content/policy.asp

News Source :   http://www.gomatilda.com.au

Article Popularity: 16%

Significant changes to Australia’s popular Working Holiday Maker Visa came into effect on 1 July 2006. The changes give holiday makers the opportunity to work and study for longer in Australia and the chance to extend their visa for another year by offering an increased selection of seasonal jobs in regional areas.

Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Visa applications are now subject to the following changes:

• increased work rights; the ability to work for any one employer for 6 months, rather than the 3 previously allowed
• increased stuffy rights; the ability to study for 4 months, rather the 3 previously allowed
• increased selection of seasonal jobs in regional areas; leading to a second working holiday visa of an additional 12 months

‘Although the primary group of applicants for this visa are young gap year students, university students and backpackers, in the last 12 months or so we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of young professionals taking career breaks,’ said Oonagh Baerveldt, spokesperson Australian Visa Bureau.

‘They are frustrated or feeling burnt out and want to take a year out. The WHM visa is a good solution because you don’t need to dip into your savings to travel – you work to travel.’

‘The ability to work in the same job for 6 months means travellers can choose to be transient or settled whereas before they were looking for a new job every 3 months,’ said Baerveldt. ‘This ‘new and improved visa’ is ideal for travellers who are looking for a careers change and want to spend some time studying and some time gaining practical experience.’

‘We’re expecting a considerable spike in the number of WHM visa applications we receive over the next two weeks. Since these changes were announced it’s been relatively quiet and we’ve even held back applications on request that they only be lodged on or after 1 July,’ said Baerveldt.

‘Anyone interested in taking a year or two out in Australia under the Working Holiday Maker visa program should visit our website and complete the WHM Online Assessment to make sure they meet all of the requirements,’ said Baerveldt.

Australian Working Holiday Maker Visas are available to passport holders from 11 different countries, including the United Kingdome and Ireland. Visa applicants must be between the ages of 18-30 (inclusive), have no dependent children and must be able to support themselves financially for the duration of their trip to Australia.

The Australian Government issued 93, 760 working holiday visas in 2003/4; of those 47, 321 were to UK and Irish nationals.

Article Source: www.visabureau.com

Article Popularity: 3%

If you need to visit Australia on business, even for a very short period of time, you will need to apply for an Australian visa. This article gives some basic details of the three types of business visa available.

There are three types of visa available for business visits to Australia. It should be noted that a business visit is NOT the same as “working” in the context of applying for an Australian visa.

The first is a Short Stay Business Visa which is suitable for a visit of less than three months. This will cover a business person for normal business meetings, negotiations and conferences and may be applied for through their chosen airline or via the internet. This is a Business Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). Alternatively, applications may be made in writing.

The second type of business visa is a Sponsored Business Visitor (short stay) Visa. In order to quality for this type of visa, a business person will need to be sponsored by a member of an Australian parliament, an authorised government agency, local mayor or other authorised organisation and the sponsor will need to guarantee that their visitor will abide by all the visa conditions including that which specifies the date by which they must leave the country.

The third business visa is a Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa. To apply for one of these, an applicant must have an approved employer as a sponsor who has an eligible position available. The employer can be an Australian or overseas company and the employee must be a foreign national with the applicable skills to fill the position. The eligible position must have been approved as a skilled occupation suitable for this program, must be full time and of a minimum salary as well as meeting various Australian laws and award requirements.

However, before the employee can apply for a visa, the employer will need to apply to be a sponsor of overseas employees and nominate the job vacancies to be filled. The nomination period will be 12 months or until all the vacancies are filled, whichever is the shorter. The sponsorship will be for a period of 2 years and the visa period may be anything from 3 months to 4 years. However, if the employee wishes to change employment, he will need to find a new approved sponsor with an eligible position and re-apply for a visa.

Full details of all the above can be found on the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Australian Visas

Article Popularity: 3%

Many people would welcome the opportunity to spend some time in Australia studying and they can, as long as certain conditions are met.

Firstly they must be proficient in English language, must attend a course or part of a course full time, and that course must be offered by an education or training provider registered with the Australian Government as accepting overseas students. The Department of Education, Science and Training provides full details but such courses include both vocational and academic.

There are seven different types of student visa which may have differing conditions attached and these are:

Independent ELICOS – for those undertaking an English Language Intensive Course either not leading to an Australian award or to a variety of certificates.

Schools – for those in primary or secondary education.

Vocational Educational and Training – which covers a number of vocational certificates and diplomas.

Higher Education – covering degrees and graduate qualifications.

Postgraduate Research – for those undertaking Masters research or a Doctorate.

Non-Award – which are foundation studies or other components of courses not leading to an Australian award.

AusAID and Defence – these are full-time courses undertaken by an AusAID or Defence student sponsored by the Australian Government

Each applicant for a student visa is assessed depending on country from which a passport is held and the type of visa required. The assessment level is designed to indicate how likely a student is to comply with the conditions of their visa, based on their previous behaviour. The assessment levels range from 1 to 5 and the higher the level, the more evidence will be required to support the visa application in terms of the student’s ability to support themselves and their fluency in the English language.

There are a number of conditions associated with being granted a Student Visa, the most notable of which being that the student must maintain adequate health insurance for the duration of their stay, they may not work unless the apply for a separate visa to do so and they must remain in full-time education. The conditions are far more detailed than this but this gives an idea of what is required of someone wanting to apply for a Student Visa.

The Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website will guide students through the steps required to apply for an Australian Visa.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Australian Visas

Article Popularity: 4%

Australia is a popular destination. Gone (or nearly) are the associations with convicts from Mother England and bars filled with muscle-bound sheep-shearers (women not allowed). Now if you ask for someone’s impression of Australia they’re likely to say “cosmopolitan”, “outdoor living”, “beaches”, “scenery”, “Great Barrier Reef”, “sophisticated” even. However, if you want to go there, unless you are a citizen of New Zealand, you are going to need a visa or travel permit.

There are different visas depending on your reasons for wanting to go to Australia.

For social or recreational reasons including a holiday, sightseeing, visiting family and friends or other short term (less than three months) non business or work related reasons, you can apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (Visitor) or a Tourist visa or a Sponsored Family Visitor visa.

If you wish to participate in Australia’s Overseas Student Program, you will need to do a registered course full-time and in order to do that, you will need a Student Visa.

For business visits of less than three months you will need a Business (Short-Stay) visa, which will permit you to visit Australia for the purposes of conferences or business meetings. If you are actually organising a business event or conference, you may need a different visa. For longer term employment in Australia, you will need to be sponsored by a company who are prepared to employ you for up to four years.

If you are between 18 and 30 and fancy working your way around Australia, you can participate in the Working Holiday Program which allows you to take up casual employment.

A visit to Australia for medical consultations or treatment requires that you have Medical Treatment Visa.

You can also get a Retirement Visa if you wish to spend some of your retirement years in Australia and a Transit Visa if you want to stop over on the way to somewhere else.

If you want to immigrate to Australia permanently, you will need to participate in the Migration Program which covers people with special skills who will contribute to the Australian economy and people who have family members already in Australia and who are prepared to sponsor them. There is also a Humanitarian Program for refugees.

If you are permanently resident in Australia but are not an Australian citizen, you will need a Resident Return Visa to allow you back in, should you leave on a temporary basis.

Each visa carries different conditions and may require additional paperwork to accompany the application. The one thing all the visas have in common, however, is that you will need to be specific about the length of your proposed stay. If you apply for a visa for three weeks but once you arrive, decide that you want to extend that to two months, you may have a problem.

It is possible that you will have to undergo a medical examination and/or chest x-ray in order to complete your visa application. This is unlikely, however, for a stay of up to 3 months, unless you already have a serious medical condition.

The best place to start for detailed information is the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Australian Visas

Article Popularity: 4%

If you want to holiday or visit family in Australia, unless you are a New Zealand citizen, you will need to obtain an Australian visa before you travel.

The type of visa you will need broadly depends on what you intend to do in Australia, your nationality and the length of time you want to stay in Australia, but you will probably need either an Electronic Travel Authority (Visitor) or a Tourist visa or a Sponsored Family Visitor visa. Whichever the case, you should apply for the full period of time that you want to remain in Australia, because once there, it is possible that you will be unable to extend your visa.

The Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) (Visitor) is just as it sounds – electronic and therefore you may not get a stamp or label in your passport but don’t worry, the Australian immigration officers will have a record of your visa.

You can apply for an ETA (Visitor) if you wish to stay for less than three months, if you are outside Australia and hold a passport from one of the 34 eligible countries. You will find a full list of these on the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website, but included are most countries from Western Europe and Scandinavia, the USA and a number of Far Eastern countries. There are special arrangements for citizens of countries not on the eligible list. An ETA (Visitor) Visa may be obtained via a travel agent or an airline, direct on the Internet or at an Australian visa office in your country of residence. There is no charge for this type of visa unless you apply over the Internet.

You may apply for a Tourist Visa whether you are inside or outside Australia and the duration will usually be 3 or 6 months but can sometimes extend to 12 months if you can prove your ability to support yourself during your stay. Applications for Tourist Visas may be made via the Internet if you are a passport holder of an eligible country, or via a registered travel agent, airline or service provider, a list of which can be found on the website mentioned above.

A Sponsored Family Visitor Visa is applicable for stays between 3 and 12 months and to apply you must be outside Australia and have a sponsor within Australia who is a family member, a member of an Australian parliament or other authorised person. To apply, you will need to complete a form, get a certified copy of your passport and send it all to your sponsor in Australia. Your sponsor will need to complete a different form and make the application on your behalf, sending all the paperwork to the applicable office.

Anyone who is not eligible to apply for an ETA Visitor or Tourist Visa over the Internet can complete a paper application which can be mailed to specific offices of the Australian government overseas.

Australian Visa – Business Visits

If you need to visit Australia on business, even for a very short period of time, you will need to apply for an Australian visa. This article gives some basic details of the three types of business visa available.

There are three types of visa available for business visits to Australia. It should be noted that a business visit is NOT the same as “working” in the context of applying for an Australian visa.

The first is a Short Stay Business Visa which is suitable for a visit of less than three months. This will cover a business person for normal business meetings, negotiations and conferences and may be applied for through their chosen airline or via the internet. This is a Business Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). Alternatively, applications may be made in writing.

The second type of business visa is a Sponsored Business Visitor (short stay) Visa. In order to quality for this type of visa, a business person will need to be sponsored by a member of an Australian parliament, an authorised government agency, local mayor or other authorised organisation and the sponsor will need to guarantee that their visitor will abide by all the visa conditions including that which specifies the date by which they must leave the country.

The third business visa is a Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa. To apply for one of these, an applicant must have an approved employer as a sponsor who has an eligible position available. The employer can be an Australian or overseas company and the employee must be a foreign national with the applicable skills to fill the position. The eligible position must have been approved as a skilled occupation suitable for this program, must be full time and of a minimum salary as well as meeting various Australian laws and award requirements.

However, before the employee can apply for a visa, the employer will need to apply to be a sponsor of overseas employees and nominate the job vacancies to be filled. The nomination period will be 12 months or until all the vacancies are filled, whichever is the shorter. The sponsorship will be for a period of 2 years and the visa period may be anything from 3 months to 4 years. However, if the employee wishes to change employment, he will need to find a new approved sponsor with an eligible position and re-apply for a visa.

Full details of all the above can be found on the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Australian Visas

Article Popularity: 3%

Skilled migrants who have been granted visas under the general skilled migration visa categories are achieving significantly higher levels of labour market success than ever before, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Senator Amanda Vanstone and the Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP announced today.

A major evaluation of these categories has confirmed good results and has also identified some areas where targeting to the needs of the labour market can be enhanced.

The independent evaluation of the general skilled migration categories has been conducted by three of Australia’s leading immigration experts, Dr Bob Birrell, Associate Professor Lesleyanne Hawthorne and Professor Sue Richardson.

Australia already has the best skilled migration programme in the world, but we cannot afford to stand still, Minister Vanstone said. Read the full story

Article Popularity: 4%

The following is the text of the Minister’s announcement for the budget of changes to the skilled migration program.

It should be read with her announcement on Monday of the points and technical changes foreshadowed to the skilled migration program arising out of the evaluation program

I’ll put that in a separate post. Strangely, the release is dated 1 May but must have been embargoed until Budget Night, which is why it only turned up this morning.

Government Successfully Matching Skilled Workers to Employers

As issued by Minister on Monday 1 May 2006

On the back of a record jump in migration of 20 000 extra places in the Skill Stream this programme year, the Howard Government will maintain the Skill Stream at that increased level through 2006-07.

Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Amanda Vanstone, said with the 2005-06 programme still to be completed, it was impossible to accurately identify the impact of last year’s 20 000 increase for this financial year.

Consequently, it would be imprudent to have a further jump in the Skill Stream until we are sure of the impact of the additional 20 000 places’s Senator Vanstone said.

This year we have worked extremely hard to increase the proportion of skilled migrants sponsored by employers or States and regions.

We have done this by matching skilled migrants with employers through a number of avenues including skills expos, both onshore and offshore; the availability of Regional Outreach Officers; and for the first time this year Industry Outreach Officers, who we have seconded to key industry groups, to support employers.

Employer sponsored migration is up 22 per cent from the same period (July-March) in the previous programme year putting it at record levels in 2005-06. In the nine months to the end of March some 12 000 employer sponsored visas were granted.

Growth in state sponsored and regional migration (SSRM) visas is up 50 per cent over the same period.

As well the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) has proven a vital tool. The number of the Skill Stream intake with occupations on the MODL, including their families, will increase four-fold to almost 40 000 people in 2005-06 compared to approximately 10 000 in 2004-05.

The figures demonstrate that we are matching skilled migrants to areas of need to a greater extent than ever before, Senator Vanstone said.

This is why these migrants are performing exceptionally well in the labour market. We intend to further refine that matching in the upcoming financial year.

The Migration Programme concentrates on the skills that business and industry are looking for but will also meet legitimate close family reunion needs.

“There will be a modest increase in the size of the Family Stream, up 1000 extra places to 46 000. The 1000 extra places will be available for spouse visas. This is on top of an extra 3000 places added to the planning levels for this year, with a total of 37 300 spouse visas in 2006-07.

The increased demand for spouse visas is driven by two main factors “ the increasing global mobility of young Australians and the larger sponsorship base created by the increased skilled migration intake.

Recent research shows that spouse migrants (many of whom are young and skilled) are also performing well in the labour market with high employment and participation rates. This is a good news story.

The total migration (non-humanitarian) programme for 2006-07 in the range of 134 000 to 144 000 places. This will comprise 97 500 places in the Skill Stream and 46 000 places in the Family Stream.

To ensure our Migration Programme remains world class the Government commissioned an evaluation of the general skilled migration visa category by some prominent Australian academics, Senator Vanstone said.

The evaluation report will be released shortly and the Government will consult with industry and other stakeholders on the recommendations.

Article Popularity: 5%

The first human habitation of Australia is estimated to have occurred between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. The first Australians were the ancestors of the current Indigenous Australians; they arrived via land bridges and short sea-crossings from present-day Southeast Asia. Most of these people were hunter-gatherers, with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, inhabited the Torres Strait Islands and parts of far-north Queensland; they possess distinct cultural practices from the Aborigines.

The first undisputed recorded European sighting of the Australian continent was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Jansz, who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in 1606. During the 17th century, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of what they called New Holland, but made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Britain. The expedition’s discoveries provided impetus for the establishment of a penal colony there following the loss of the American colonies that had previously filled that role.
Read the full story

Article Popularity: 4%