Australia warns on migrant cuts
Australia may cut the number of immigrants who are allowed into the country if the global financial crisis raises unemployment levels.
Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans said a decision on reducing numbers would be taken after mid-year financial data is published next month.
Around 190, 300 immigrants are forecast to arrive in Australia in 2008/09. Earlier this month, a British minister said the country could reduce migrant flows due to the economic crisis. Mr Evans said the country's current migrant programme, which is aimed at skilled workers, was designed when Australia was forecasting good economic growth and a skills shortage.
"The government will take a calm look at those issues and make a decision when we have got proper information," he told Nine Network television.
"Clearly if the demand for labour comes off, you'd adjust the migration programme appropriately," he said. "We can turn the taps off if we need to. " Mr Evans said that any decision on cutting migrant flows was complex, considering their contribution to the country's economy. "We know that they consume, they buy property, and they're a net positive to the budget, " he said. "And a lot of the skills that are coming in at the moment are in the mining sector, which has allowed us to increase our exports. "
He said there were still industries which had a "strong demand" for labour and the government would analyse the economic situation and consult industry before deciding on what to do.
1.小题1:
Which of the following can we know from this passage?
A．Australia may decide to increase the number of migrants.
B．Britain has decided to reduce the number of migrants.
C．Australia has decided to increase the number of migrants.
D．Britain has decided to increase the number of migrants.2.小题2: Australia may cut off the number of migrants mainly because ______ .
A．Britain has decided to reduce the number of migrants
B．it is forecast Australian will have good economic growth
C．Australia has no demand for skilled workers in mining
D．the global economic crisis is getting worse and worse3. 小题3:What does Mr Evans imply by saying the underlined sentence?
A．It is necessary for the country to cut off the number of migrants.
B．Citizens should turn off the taps when they don’t use the water.
C．Britain shouldn’t have reduced the number of migrants.
D．Increasing migrants to the country will consume more water.4.小题4: From the passage, what does Mr Evans think of migrants’ contributions to Australia’s economy?
A．Negative
B．Doubtful
C．Positive
D．Critical
