CANBERRA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- An Australian government MP has urged his party colleagues to support an Opposition plan that would increase the number of sponsored refugees welcomed to Australia by ten-fold.
Liberal government MP Andrew Broad, whose electorate in rural Victoria has benefited from a huge influx of migrant workers, has called for the dramatic increase in the sponsored refugee resettlement program, saying it has "opened the hearts" of locals.
On Tuesday, Broad has said he wants the number to be raised from the current 1,000 to 10,000 - a plan initially floated by the opposition Labor Party.
"It would have to be integrated with businesses that could demonstrate job security and integration support," Broad told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). "And it can't just be the workers, it must be the families too."
The Victorian town of Nhill, in Broad's electorate, has become the home for hundreds of resettled refugees who mostly work at the Luv-a-Duck facility which processes ducks for consumption.
In Parliament on Monday, Broad said influx had not only kept vital jobs in the region, but had contributed millions of dollars into the local economy.
Broad's calls came at a contentious time for refugee settlement in Australia. Last week, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced that "fake refugees" - or those who have not provided details of their asylum claim - would be identified and deported, while the government also announced that refugees being held on the detention center on Manus Island would be transferred to the United States instead of being granted asylum in Australia.
