Productivity Commission Inquiry into the use of charges to determine the intake of migrants

The Treasurer, Joe Hockey, and the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Peter Dutton, have announced that the Productivity Commission will commence an inquiry into the migrant intake into Australia. This inquiry will look into:

• The benefits and costs of permanent migration.
• The scope to use alternative methods for determining the intake of permanent migrants and the effects these would have. This should include examination of a specific scenario in which entry charges for migrants are the primary basis for the selection of migrants.
• The benefits and costs of temporary migration with an examination of the use of charges as the primary basis for regulating the level and composition of this migration.
• Mechanisms for achieving an optimal interaction between temporary and permanent migration.