Australian Immigration minister Chris Evans has been accused of spin following claims that he has officially “slashed” 2009’s immigration intake.

The granting of Australian skilled visas has been a contentious topic in recent months as the global recession has seen a rise of unemployment throughout the country. As such, several political groups and lobbyists have called for a reduction in the country’s immigration intake; a measure that Evans claimed was already in place.

However, despite the minister’s claim that a 14 per cent reduction in the acceptance of new migrants has been implemented, a scathing attack published in the WA Today revealed that Australian immigration is, in fact, very much on the increase.

Whilst a 14 per cent slash in the intake of foreign skilled labour has been officially rubber-stamped by Evans, the minister seemingly forgot to mention that despite the reduction, 2009’s extremely high initial immigration quota still means that immigration will, in fact, increase overall by 12 per cent, meaning that by the end of the year, Australia will have welcomed a record 332,000 new migrants to its shores.