35,000 more skilled workers for Australia

HOME Affairs Minister Clare O’neil says Australia will take in 35,000 more skilled workers under its permanent migration program this year.

Speaking at the jobs summit in Canberra on Friday, Ms O’neil said the visa system needed to be simplified and the country’s mindset needed to switch from a “system focused almost entirely on keeping people out, to one that recognises that we are in a global competition for talent”.

“For the first time in our history, Australia is not the destination of choice for many of the world’s skilled migrants,” Ms O’neil said.

“Those best and brightest minds on the move are instead looking to live in countries like Canada, Germany and the UK, and those countries are rolling out the red carpet.”

Of the additional 35,000 boost to a total of 195,000 migrants, the government will allocate an extra 4700 places for critical healthcare workers. There will be 6100 additional places for workers with skills needed to deliver vital infrastructure, and 6800 places for tech sector workers.

There will be a lift in regional visas of 9000 and an additional 5000 for businesses to sponsor employees on secure, permanent visas allowing employers to directly meet their skills requirements.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss Andrew Mckellar said he “very much welcomes” the announcement, calling it a “big step forward”.

“Immigration is one the biggest levers we have to drive our country forward, and it is fast, and it is powerful. So I want Australia to pull it,” Ms O’neil said.

“For the last decade, our immigration program has been on continental drift. It has no strategy. We make it easy for temporary migrants to come here, but very hard for highly skilled, permanent migrants. We’ve got it backwards.

“The system is expensive, it is bureaucratic, it takes an eternity to get anything done. There is no proper feedback between the migration and training systems, so areas of skills shortage come on to the shortage list and never come off again.

“Australia’s migration system is not serving our needs and we should change it.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud threw his support behind permanent migration pathways for people who move to the regions.

“We’ve had enough of them coming picking crops and passing through, we want them to live in regional Australia,” he said.

Mr Littleproud said 172,000 additional workers were needed to prevent a food security crisis, citing studies from the National Farmers’ Federation and the Council of Small Business Organisations.