The Migration Institute of Australia (WA Branch) today had it’s state conference. We were fortunate to have guest speakers from the Australian Federal Government, Small Business Development Corporation, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Engineers Australia and more.

The Hon Mr Ian Goodenough, Federal Member for Moore, shared some interesting perspective from the Australian Federal Government, including thoughts on multiculturalism, focus on skilled migration, and more.

“The Government favours merit-based migration”, Mr Goodenough said during his speech. He further stressed that the Government looks for entrepreneurial talent to contribute to Australian society with 2/3 of the migration programme intake being devoted to skilled migrants.

Mr Goodenough further spoke to the MIA conference on the significance of Australia’s standard of living. He informed us that according to the World Bank (2013), the Australian GDP per capital (in nominal terms) was USD $67,468. This means that the Australian standard of living is also approximately 3-times higher than the world’s average; meaning it continues to be a destination of choice to the world’s aspiring migrants.