By IANS
Sydney : New Australian census figures show almost 50,000 migrants have moved to south Australia since 2001 – with India being the most rapidly growing source of arrivals.
The 2006 figures show that 7,500 India-born residents now live in south Australia. Almost 2,000 of them arrived last year compared to the 175 who landed in 2001.
“The future of this state is bound up in population growth and we desperately need these people to meet skills shortages and create consumer demand,” said Business South Australia chief executive Peter Vaughan.
Other Asian countries like Singapore, Sri Lanka, China and Malaysia have also recorded annual increases in migrants of up to 700 percent in the past five years, according to the census.
“These settlers have a multiplier effect because they often bring partners, have children and encourage further migration because they go online and tell everyone what a wonderful place this is to settle,” Vaughan said.
“Many Indians and Chinese filled IT and marketing jobs while Filipinos often arrived on a 457 visa sponsored by employers to do trades such as welding and sheet metal work,” said migration agent Chris Parish.
Business, migration and population experts have welcomed the wave of settlers, saying they are crucial to south Australia’s economic future, news.com.au reported.
The census figures also showed that an estimated 2,600 Britons arrived in south Australia, a 400 percent jump over the 656 arrivals in 2001.