More foreigners than Aussies have flown into Australia this year

MORE than 50,000 foreigners have jumped the queue of stranded Australians desperate to fly home this year, as bosses demand more migrant workers despite pandemic border closures.

Only 39,950 Australian citizens have been allowed back to Australia this year, as state governments struggle with quarantining new arrivals to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19.

But 50,470 foreigners flew into Australia in the first three months of this year, despite a queue of more than 35,000 Aussies still waiting to come home.

New immigration data reveals that 18,600 foreign nationals arrived last month alone, compared with 14,300 Australian citizens.

They included 2530 partners, parents or children of Australian citizens, on family visas, plus 3700 workers on skilled visas, 3200 foreigners on temporary visas and 1950 on visitor visas, usually reserved for tourists.

New Zealanders made up 5100 arrivals last month, with 2000 Indian, 1300 Chinese, 1000 British and 750 American nationals.

The data was released on Tuesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, on the eve of a federal parliamentary inquiry considering the need for more migrant workers.

Business groups at a hearing in Melbourne on Wednesday will push for international arrivals to fill skills shortages and boost the economy.

Australian Border Force said 80 per cent of overseas arrivals were Australian citizens, permanent residents who arrived on foreign passports, or their immediate family.

Foreigners were allowed to Australia in “limited circumstances where an individual has critical skills, such as supporting the medical sector, or compassionate circumstances, such as to attend a funeral’’, it said.