Search

States often face immigration 'control dilemmas' between popular pressures for tighter immigration controls versus economic pressures for more liberal work visa controls. Using a systematic process analysis of recent policy developments in Australia, this article argues that the Howard government's large expansion of 'wanted' forms of immigration hinged upon its ability to control 'unwanted' forms of immigration. The concept of 'control signals' is introduced to account for the government's success in exiting an immigration control dilemma, which allowed it to pursue skilled immigration reforms that would have otherwise proven difficult. A research agenda is established for examining the conditions under which the use of control signals is likely to be successful and for applying the concept to other realms of public policy where states face control dilemmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to perform two tasks. It seeks to first detail the changes to the industrial relations system entailed in WorkChoices (set against the background of previous Howard government policies in this field), analyse the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU's) campaign against it and the Australian Labor Party's (ALP's) industrial relations policy in response to it, and belated changes to WorkChoices. Second, it seeks to examine the extent to which WorkChoices (and the industrial relations issue) was decisive in Howard's defeat. This will be done by using Newspoll surveys to plot the revival of ALP electoral support against salient events leading up to the election, drawing upon early post election assessments and existing studies, and also examining the results of the Australian Election Study 2007 to see whether this new evidence confirms the importance of industrial relations in the election outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at politics in Australia in 2006. Changes made to the cabinet of Prime Minister John Howard are reviewed, noting the replacement of Minister for Defence Brendan John Nelson, Minister for Finance and Administration Nicholas Hugh Minchin, and Minister for Family and Community Services Kay Christine Lesley Patterson. Major political issues in Australia are discussed, including the Workplace Relations Amendment Act of 2005, the removal of Kim Beazley as leader of the Labor Party, and his replacement by Kevin Rudd.