Good on yer, mates!

What a surprise from Australia, which I thought was seriously listing to port.

CANBERRA: Australia tightened its migration rules Monday in favor of English speakers and professionals, saying the country has been attracting too many hairdressers and cooks and too few doctors and engineers.

My eyes must have bulged like balloons when I read that. Common sense on immigration, as a government policy?

Can you imagine the uproar if any American politician said, "We've been attracting too many day laborers and taco vendors and too few doctors and engineers"? The mainstream media would turn the howitzers on him before he took another breath. That's the price of uttering a Forbidden Thought in a country oppressed by a multi-culti Establishment.

"You've got to say if they don't have the English-language skills, don't have the trade skills and can't get a job, then really they should not be eligible for permanent residency," [Immigration Minister] Evans said.

The new policy will favor applicants who score highly in an English language test. Moreover, immigrant numbers in certain jobs could be capped for the first time.

We'll see if Australia can stick to its new principles when the inevitable shrieks of "racism" and "xenophobia" start. But it's a heartening step. Good going, Aussies.