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Rare bee skills not enough to earn visa
Dylan Lautner
October 5, 2009 - Because Chinese apiarist work is not considered internationally recognised, it also has developed a successful market for unique bee products from Australian eucalypts may have to leave the country. Jing Bang (Jim) Zou and his wife, Litang Fan, pioneered the production of propolis, a bee-created resin they say is a natural antibiotic and immune system booster. It is used in cosmetics, creams and ointments.
Mr Zou and his wife live and work on their farm at Young, in south-west NSW, where they tend the bees, and have a retail outlet in Liverpool Road, Ashfield.
But the Federal Government's Migration Review Tribunal has refused Mr Zou a distinguished talent visa as a specialist apiarist, which would have enabled him to stay permanently. His original temporary 457 visa for skilled workers has expired.
The tribunal refused to grant the special visa because it said Mr Zou had not demonstrated he had an "internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in a profession".
The tribunal also said he had not satisfied it that he would be an asset to the community.
However, a Department of Immigration spokesman said that in some cases there were grounds for the Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans, to intervene. Mr Zou's case had been assessed as one where there could be grounds.
The distinguished talent visa was a tough one to get, he said. It was for people internationally recognised for outstanding achievement in a profession, in the arts, in sport or in research.
Mr Zou's products are also sold in China. That export business is worth about $250,000 a year.
Author Site
10/4/2009
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