❓ Ms. Tonkin asks the Minister for Police about the outcome of his UK mission to recruit skilled workers. The Minister reports a successful mission with high interest and numerous applications, highlighting WA's attractiveness due to lower cost of living, higher wages, and better weather.
AnsweredQoN 115Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
POLICE
— RECRUITMENT — UK AND IRELAND
115. Ms C.M. TONKIN to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the McGowan
Labor government's efforts to attract skilled workers to Western Australia.
Can the minister update the house on
the outcome of his mission to the UK to attract skilled workers from the UK and
Ireland to WA?
— RECRUITMENT — UK AND IRELAND
115. Ms C.M. TONKIN to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the McGowan
Labor government's efforts to attract skilled workers to Western Australia.
Can the minister update the house on
the outcome of his mission to the UK to attract skilled workers from the UK and
Ireland to WA?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for her
question and for her interest in the task of attracting skilled workers to Western
Australia.
It was a successful mission. I will not go too deeply into it—people
will probably be relieved that my answer will be
quite brief—because we are still compiling the outcomes of the
applications and the visits to the various sites and all the media
cut-through that we had in the UK and Ireland. However, I will give a brief
summary. We departed on 24 February and returned on 7 March. Essentially, every
day we were moving from one city to another and in each city we took a team of people with us. The mission comprised a team
from the Western Australia Police Force , including Deputy Commissioner
Kylie Whiteley with a team of five other officers, four of whom were expatriate police officers who had come to Western Australia
and had trodden the same path a decade or more ago. They were able to
convey information directly to police officers who were applying to come to Western
Australia. We also had Stephen Moir from the
Motor Trade Association of Western Australia with us. He brought with him a migration agent, who was very helpful in advising people—mechanics and
the like—who were applying to come to Australia to work in that
industry. We had a representative of the Australian Hotels Association (WA)
talking about the hospitality sector.
The trip was very successful. We held a range of fora. We
also had the odd activation in sites like pubs to get attention and enable people
to come. Those were incredibly successful in getting attention, so we cut
through a lot of media. I will give members an indication of the response. When
we went to Edinburgh to hold one of those little pub activations, two people—one
had driven and one had caught a train—came from Newcastle to attend
that pub activation and hear from us directly. When we think about the UK, it
is not a great distance for us but for them, that is a significant journey. It
was replicated when we did one in London. People came from Liverpool. A
pregnant woman and her partner drove from Liverpool to hear from us directly
about coming to Western Australia. When we went to Dublin, people drove down
from Belfast just to find out information at the event. That was a police information
session. It was incredibly successful.
It is quite sobering. I have to say that when we go to the
UK, it is sobering to see how comparatively well off and attractive Western Australia
is. It is a little sad to witness what is happening in the UK and Ireland at
the moment, particularly the UK. The cost of living is easily very much higher
than we confront. Their energy bills are well and truly over double what we
confront, and they are going up all the time. On the day I departed, public
transport costs went up 5.8 per cent, and
they were already expensive. We can get around our entire city for $5 maximum
with our two-zone fare. Over there, it is as much as �10 one way, and
going north all the time. That is a really significant cost that they confront.
Western Australia is a very attractive place. Tens of
thousands of applications have been made. I will talk more when I give a thorough
report on the outcomes, which we should know shortly. Members can rest assured
that Western Australia is an incredibly attractive place. The message we
conveyed was very simple, not a hard sell: the cost of living is lower, wages
are higher and the weather is magnificent! That was a pretty easy sell.
The SPEAKER : I give the call to the Leader of the
Liberal Party with the last question.
question and for her interest in the task of attracting skilled workers to Western
Australia.
It was a successful mission. I will not go too deeply into it—people
will probably be relieved that my answer will be
quite brief—because we are still compiling the outcomes of the
applications and the visits to the various sites and all the media
cut-through that we had in the UK and Ireland. However, I will give a brief
summary. We departed on 24 February and returned on 7 March. Essentially, every
day we were moving from one city to another and in each city we took a team of people with us. The mission comprised a team
from the Western Australia Police Force , including Deputy Commissioner
Kylie Whiteley with a team of five other officers, four of whom were expatriate police officers who had come to Western Australia
and had trodden the same path a decade or more ago. They were able to
convey information directly to police officers who were applying to come to Western
Australia. We also had Stephen Moir from the
Motor Trade Association of Western Australia with us. He brought with him a migration agent, who was very helpful in advising people—mechanics and
the like—who were applying to come to Australia to work in that
industry. We had a representative of the Australian Hotels Association (WA)
talking about the hospitality sector.
The trip was very successful. We held a range of fora. We
also had the odd activation in sites like pubs to get attention and enable people
to come. Those were incredibly successful in getting attention, so we cut
through a lot of media. I will give members an indication of the response. When
we went to Edinburgh to hold one of those little pub activations, two people—one
had driven and one had caught a train—came from Newcastle to attend
that pub activation and hear from us directly. When we think about the UK, it
is not a great distance for us but for them, that is a significant journey. It
was replicated when we did one in London. People came from Liverpool. A
pregnant woman and her partner drove from Liverpool to hear from us directly
about coming to Western Australia. When we went to Dublin, people drove down
from Belfast just to find out information at the event. That was a police information
session. It was incredibly successful.
It is quite sobering. I have to say that when we go to the
UK, it is sobering to see how comparatively well off and attractive Western Australia
is. It is a little sad to witness what is happening in the UK and Ireland at
the moment, particularly the UK. The cost of living is easily very much higher
than we confront. Their energy bills are well and truly over double what we
confront, and they are going up all the time. On the day I departed, public
transport costs went up 5.8 per cent, and
they were already expensive. We can get around our entire city for $5 maximum
with our two-zone fare. Over there, it is as much as �10 one way, and
going north all the time. That is a really significant cost that they confront.
Western Australia is a very attractive place. Tens of
thousands of applications have been made. I will talk more when I give a thorough
report on the outcomes, which we should know shortly. Members can rest assured
that Western Australia is an incredibly attractive place. The message we
conveyed was very simple, not a hard sell: the cost of living is lower, wages
are higher and the weather is magnificent! That was a pretty easy sell.
The SPEAKER : I give the call to the Leader of the
Liberal Party with the last question.
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