As thousands of workers in the United Kingdom and Ireland struggle to get on top while their nations' economies continue to struggle, a recent study of British workers has shown that a quarter of these workers are willing to emigrate to other countries to find better employment opportunities. Australia tops the list of favoured countries to emigrate to, followed by Spain, France and the United States of America.

The Irish Times explains further;

For millions of people, Lord’s Cricket Ground, in St John’s Wood in London, is a picture of England, ordered and traditional. Others hope it is the route to a new life far from English shores: they have come to the ground in their hundreds, despite bad weather, for the Emigrate Show.

Warming up from the snow outside with coffees, a couple in their 40s who prefer not to be named offer dispiriting views of the UK. “We don’t feel there is any future here,” says the woman.

Her partner, a plumber, who hopes they will head for Australia, says, “I have a place with hardly any mortgage, and I am struggling. Here I have to work subcontracting, earning a pittance, while in Australia I could be earning three times the money.”

With his 45th birthday approaching, he is in a hurry, as he will lose points under Australian immigration rules if he applies later. “What sort of a future do we have here? How am I supposed to pay £9,000-a-year tuition fees to put my kids through college? We want a better life.”

A quarter of British workers would be willing to emigrate to find a better job, according to a study last year, and the desire to leave is stronger among the better educated, with one in three graduates and nearly two in five postgraduates contemplating doing so.

Since 1991, Australia has been the favoured destination for British emigrants; 500,000 have gone there, and 200,000 more have gone to the US, with 400,000 going to Spain and France and 125,000 going to Germany and the Netherlands.

To read the article in full at the Irish Times click here.

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All the legislation in the world will not change society's attitudes towards multiculturalism in Australia, says Chris Bowen, the Minister for Immigration & Citizenship.

"Last week on Australia Day nearly 14,000 people took the pledge to respect the rights, liberties and laws of Australia on our national day. Many wore the traditional dress of their homelands. More than a few had tears in their eyes as they completed their journey to citizenship.

This is the genius of our unique model of multiculturalism in practice: mutual respect for the values we hold dear in Australia, and for the cultures and traditions of those who have made Australia their home.

But the people who took the pledge and the thousands who turned out to welcome them didn't need an act of parliament to tell them how to conduct themselves. The people in multicultural communities such as where I live in Sydney's Fairfield, don't need legislation to tell them how people from different backgrounds should get along.

The Baillieu Victorian government has suggested that Australia needs a multicultural act. I don't agree. The federal government won't be introducing a multicultural act, because it's unnecessary..."

"...We believe that while those who come here should respect our laws and participate in our society, they also have the right to celebrate their traditional cultures.

There is a difference between a government encouraging Australians to embrace multiculturalism and a parliament legislating to mandate a certain attitude. In my view we no more need a multicultural act than we need an Australia shall be good at cricket act. These are things that you cannot mandate by force of law. Australia does well at cricket because our team is talented and works hard, not because the government legislates that it shall be so. You can't legislate attitude. For this reason, our political leaders need to foster and nurture multiculturalism by providing leadership and evidence of the virtues of multiculturalism, not by passing a law."

More can be found on The Australian website here (subscriber link).

Researchers at Macquarie University have found that recent migrants to regional and rural Australia are more highly educated and skilled than previous arrivals, and are successful in securing employment.

"Over the past 16 years there have been a wide range of Government schemes introduced to encourage migration to regional and rural Australia. Previously, concerns have been raised as to whether there is enough opportunity in regional areas to support migrant communities. The results of this study suggest there are and that migrant populations have been able to access employment opportunities successfully."

You can read the full article here.

Further information on Regional skilled migration is available here.