On January 1, 2023, at the beginning of the new year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suddenly announced a major immigration policy reform on the live broadcast, involving travelers from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, requiring them to provide a negative COVID-19 test result before departure.
This policy is a precautionary measure in response to the large wave of COVID-19 infections in China and the emergence of new variants of the virus. This policy has aroused widespread concern and controversy, especially for Chinese and international students in Australia, it is undoubtedly a heavy blow.
Australia's immigration policy reform is based on the consideration of immigration pressure and voter dissatisfaction. The migration pressure is due to Australia's unexpected population surge after the closure of its borders during the pandemic, mainly due to the influx of foreigners with the right to work, which has led to soaring house prices and rents, constant pressure on infrastructure and social services, and total economic output growth has also been largely dependent on immigration-led population growth.
Voter dissatisfaction is due to the fact that some of Australia's political opponents have used the immigration issue to attack the Labor Party**, claiming that the Labor Party has lost control of the border and is in fact secretly implementing the "Greater Australia" immigration program, harming the interests and welfare of the natives.
Therefore, in order to alleviate the pressure of immigrants and voter dissatisfaction, the Australian Prime Minister decided to carry out immigration policy reforms to reduce the total number of immigrants, especially immigrants and students from China, to show his control and management of immigration issues.
Australia's immigration policy reform is also based on its concerns about China's epidemic situation and the threat of new variants. The epidemic situation is due to the recent emergence of a number of new outbreak points in China, especially in Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Shandong and other places, resulting in a large number of confirmed cases and close contacts, triggering national prevention and control measures and emergency response.
The threat of new variants is due to the fact that China has detected variants of the coronavirus similar to those in Europe and South Africa in some affected areas, which are more contagious and variable, and may have an impact on existing vaccines and protocols.
Therefore, in order to prevent the epidemic and new variants from China from entering Australia, the Australian Prime Minister decided to require negative COVID-19 test results for travelers from China to increase the threshold and difficulty of entry.
Australia's immigration policy reform has undoubtedly brought huge difficulties and reactions to Chinese and international students in Australia.
The dilemma is due to Australia's testing requirements for travelers from China, which increases the cost and difficulty for them to return to China or come to Australia, not only do they need to do an English nucleic acid report in China, but also need to do mandatory quarantine and testing in Australia, and they may face the risk of visa cancellation or refusal, not to mention the possible discrimination and rejection.
The reaction is due to Australia's testing requirements for travelers from China, which has triggered their dissatisfaction and **, believing that it is unfair and disrespectful to them, and a violation of their human rights and freedoms.
The Australian Prime Minister urgently announced that Chinese and international students are ushering in the darkest moment, which reflects the plight of migrants and voter pressure in Australia, as well as the challenges of the epidemic and the crisis of new variants in China. Whether Australia's immigration policy reform can effectively solve its immigration problem. We hope that Australia can adopt an open and inclusive attitude, get along with Chinese and international students, and jointly maintain peace and stability.