Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has urged the Australian government to maintain its levels of Australian immigration at a tribute dinner to Australia’s richest man, also attended by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

In a speech heralding the achievements of Hungarian migrant Frank Lowy, Murdoch expressed his opinion that Australian immigration quotas need to remain high, allowing the country to continue to attract and welcome foreign workers in all areas of trade and industry.  

“In my recent Boyer Lectures I spoke of the importance to Australia's future of a liberal immigration system,” Murdoch said.

“Few other Australians embody the breadth of achievement or the contribution to Australia's prosperity made by immigrants in this country than Frank Lowy.”
With both Rudd and opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull present at the event, Murdoch was certainly making his voice heard by the right people.

Currently, government officials are still undecided as to whether the 2009-10 migration quota will remain at a record high, or whether it will need to be reduced due to the number of local workers who have been forced out of their jobs by the global recession.