The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) has warned the government that work on infrastructure projects will be difficult to accomplish following the decision to put restrictions on the skilled migration program.
While the MIA welcomed the Australian immigration ministers decision to increase the number of humanitarian and family reunion Australian visas for the 2009/10 Migration Program, they were less than impressed with the decision to remove a number of trade-level occupations from the skilled occupation list.
“The MIA awaits with great interest to see how the Government proposes to administer the new job-readiness criteria for trade occupations. It’s hard to imagine a one-size-fits-all assessment system of employability,” said Maurene Horder, CEO of the Migration Institute of Australia.
The Government reduced the Australian skilled migration program at the turn of 2009, when the recession was starting to take effect. The planning level for the remainder of the 2008-09 financial year was reduced from 133,500 to 115,000 skilled migration visas and the Critical Skills List (CSL) and priority processing order were both introduced so that the Government could target the skills it needed most.
As of the 01 July 2009, the Australian skilled migration planning levels will be further reduced to 108,100 visas, and the CSL and priority processing order will remain as guidelines for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s visa processing officers. This means that sponsored visas and independent visas with skills nominated in the health, engineering and IT sectors will constitute a major part of Australian visa approvals during the start of the next financial year.
Fortunately, the Australian skilled migration program remains flexible to the needs of the Australian economy. While states/territories and employers have been given greater power to target the skills they need, the Immigration Minister Chris Evans also has the ability to extend the planning levels for the Australian skilled migration program and amend the CSL so that certain nominated trades can have priority for processing, if the economy needs a boost in skilled workers.
Senator Evans said in a recent statement that the Government is committing itself to “a long-term planning framework for migration as a key component of the current reform agenda” and that their extension of the family migration scheme is testament to its perception of the importance of family.
“We are recognising the importance of family through this boost which will benefit Australians who seek to have their parents, partners or children join them to live here permanently,” Senator Evans added.
The family stream of the Australian migration program has had 2,500 places added to the Spouse and Fiancée Visa program, 1,000 places to the Parent Visa program, and 300 to the Child Visa program.
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“The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) has warned the government that work on infrastructure projects will be difficult to accomplish following the decision to put restrictions on the skilled migration program”.
What infrastructure projects?
I’m a licenced Painter and Decorator and many in my trade are struggling for employment yet idiots like the MIA are warning the Federal Govt. over the decrease in skilled numbers. My industry has been ravaged by cheap labour from China, South-east Asia and the Middle East. These people usually do not have formal training, licences, don’t pay insurances and reduce wages in the process.
Nice to see Labor…..the once bastion of the ‘working class’ has told us to get stuffed as they would prefer cheap labour from offshore which only reduces everyone’s standard of living.
When will this madness end?
Only 14% of Krudd’s handouts went to infrastructure projects. Only 14%! He is a Pinko joke and would prefer to see us huddled around candles at night. Manufacturing is collapsing, retail is weak and the trades are suffering so where are all these new jobs?
They don’t exist so most new migrants end up on some form of welfare. The welfare numbers are expanding yet Labor lie throught their back teeth to the Australian public. Do not listen to their lies. Australia does not need any more skilled or unskilled labour.