Labor has revealed a proposed three- and five-year sponsored parents’ visa that would cost $1,250 and $2,500 per entrant. The plan for an uncapped long-stay parents’ visa would be a quarter of the cost of the Coalition’s visas and would also be available to an unlimited number of applicants.
The Coalition has already announced its parents’ visa due to start on 1 July that would be restricted to 15,000 people and cost $5,000 for three years and $10,000 for five years. Holders would be required to go overseas to renew their visa.
Labor members, such as frontbencher Chris Bowen, state that “many elderly parents want to reunite with their families but have to travel to Australia as tourists – proving costly, frustrating, disruptive and exhausting as they ferry between countries.” They state that their plans would make it easier for these families.
Critics of Labor’s visa plans point to a programme that will not be sustainable. Immigration Minister David Coleman told the Australian that the proposal showed “a complete lack of regard for sensible immigration and population planning”.
