Australia listed in top ten destinations for immigrants

In spite of the USA’s historic fame as a destination for immigrants, Australia can lay claim to being a true nation of migrants as its immigrant percentage as part of the total population is far higher.

The USA, mired at present in a seemingly unending debate over its attempt to reform immigration law, holds around 12 per cent foreign-born migrants as against Australia’s 26 per cent. Many believe the country is well on its way to be the most diverse nation on the planet, even although the US is numerically well ahead.

America is home to a stunning 46 million migrants, with Australia holding only 6.5 million, more than 50 per cent of whom have English as their native language. Only five per cent of immigrants in the US arrive from countries where English is either the national language or is widely spoken as a second language, with the US immigration rules focusing on families rather than language and ability to integrate.

Even without considering the high percentage of native and second-language English speakers in the Australian migrant population, the nation is already one of the world’s most cosmopolitan and diverse, with the surge in post-war immigration the main reason. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, figures based on the birth rate and present-day immigration statistics suggest that, by 2050, population numbers will break the 35 million barrier.

Earlier this week, media mogul Rupert Murdoch spoke out for immigration, claiming that diversity in the country was a positive result of migration. Prof Stephen Castles, sociology research chair at the University of Sydney, compares Australia with India’s diverse languages, religions and cultures as an example of diversity based on ethnicity rather than migration, and concludes that Murdoch is right in his opinion,