| September 23, 2005: Although the Australian armed forces need only 53,000 troops to be at full strength, there is a constant problem getting the high quality people that makes this force so effective. So the government proposes to use citizenship as a lure to attract desirable recruits from the many small island nations in the Pacific. Many of these nations, like Fiji, are known to produce excellent soldiers. Australia hopes to attract up to 2,000 experienced military men from the Pacific islands. Australia is considered a desirable place for young Pacific islanders to migrate to. But Australia is picky about who they let in, preferring migrants with needed skills. While there are few engineers or college instructors in the Pacific islands, but there are a lot of experienced, English speaking, soldiers, often with peacekeeping experience, and willing to move to Australia for the bigger paycheck and citizenship. |