Immigration levels will hit a near record high next year after the Government announced a boost in skilled migration numbers, pushing the intake to 133,000. 

Next financial year an extra 5000 skilled migrants will be accepted. They will have to be sponsored by state and have to work in a regional area for at least two years. 

There will also be 1000 new places for doctors and their families, who will be allowed to live anywhere. 

The Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone, said yesterday that the increase meant that next year Australia would be accepting its biggest ever number of skilled migrants—77,100. 

The announcement follows another last week that Australia would be offering 1000 new places for refugees, suggesting the Government is talking a softer line on migration, in contrast to its previous tough stance on asylum seekers and border protection. 

The two announcements combined mean the total migration target for 2004-05 will reach 133,000-only just below the record 135700 under the Hawke government in 1988-89, which blew out to an actual intake of 140,000. 

But according to Immigration Department projections, Sydney will have fewer migrants next financial year because of shifts in the categories of migration. 

The move to bolster migration levels has been prompted by heavy lobbying from the states—apart from NSW —for more migrants. 

Senator Vanstone, who has repeatedly said since taking over the portfolio late last year that she is a great fan of migration, suggested yesterday that there was “more to come” on immigration policy. 

The Herald understands this will involve new programs directing more migrants to the smaller states, such as South Australia, which desperately wants to increase its share of the migration intake, rather than another increase in overall numbers. 

The only premier lobbying against higher migration levels has been Bob Carr. 

Senator Vanstone said yesterday that Mr. Carr had to accept that if he wanted Sydney to be a world financial center, he had to take what came with it—that people would want to live there. 

“You can’t be a big international city and expect people not to want to go there,” Senator Vanstone said. “Premier Carr has to decide, does he want to be a big international city? Is that what he wants for Sydney or not, and if it is what he wants, he has to accept what comes with it.” 

Senator Vanstone also announced yesterday that the Government had decided to raise the entry bar for skilled migrants, from 115 to 120points. 

This was because rising demand for immigration to Australia meant “we can be more choosy and we can take more and more highly skilled migrants”. 

The new points test will not apply to the extra 5000skilled migrants, because they will have to work in regional Australia. 

Exactly where those people went depended on the states. 

“The states will have their views about what they want and then there’ll be a pool of people and we can assist in matching them up,” Senator Vanstone said. 

The Opposition welcomed the Government’s announcement. Labor’s immigration spokesman, Stephen Smith, said “subject to examination of the detail, Labor supports the increase in skills, supports the increase in overall numbers and welcomes ongoing efforts to get more migrants into regional Australia”. 

Business and industry applauded the rise in skilled migrant levels. The chief executive of Master builders Australia, Wilhelm Harnisch, said it should “provide the opportunity to alleviate some of the shortages of skilled trades in the building industry”. 

The managing director of Australian Business Limited, Mark Bethwaite, said access to appropriately skilled workers had been of concern for some time and that the increased numbers would deal with some of the skill shortages.