Asian migrant intake soars

July 29, 2010, Herald Sun:

AUSTRALIA'S Asian migrant population has soared in the past decade, with almost a million Chinese, Indians and Vietnamese now calling the nation home.

The Asian-born population has risen from 5.3 per cent in 1999 to almost 9 per cent, an Australian Bureau of Statistics report reveals...

Monash University demographer Dr Bob Birrell said the figure, which includes foreign students, was enormous.

"You can see why Melbourne has been growing so rapidly and why there are concerns about congestion and quality of life," he said.

Dr Birrell said more than half of the nation's 300,000 migrant growth in 2008-09 occurred in Melbourne and Sydney and was mainly driven by Asian settlers.