❓ Mr. Michael asks the Premier about the government's response to the skills summit and how it will attract/retain skilled workers. The Premier outlines interim measures including incentives for mature age apprentices, expansion of the state nominated migration program, and initiatives to assist disadvantaged jobseekers.
AnsweredQoN 347Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SKILLS SUMMIT
347. Mr D.R. MICHAEL to the Premier:
In
that vein, Madam Speaker, before I ask my question, I also welcome, on behalf
of the member for Southern River , students from Caladenia Primary
School; and, on behalf of the member for Kingsley, year 11 politics students
from Woodvale Secondary College.
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to address the workforce challenges that have
emerged due to Western Australia's strong nation-leading economic
performance.
(1) Can the
Premier update the house on how this government is responding to ideas that
were identified by industry at last Friday's skills summit?
(2) Can the Premier outline how this
response will help to attract and retain skilled workers in WA?�
347. Mr D.R. MICHAEL to the Premier:
In
that vein, Madam Speaker, before I ask my question, I also welcome, on behalf
of the member for Southern River , students from Caladenia Primary
School; and, on behalf of the member for Kingsley, year 11 politics students
from Woodvale Secondary College.
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to address the workforce challenges that have
emerged due to Western Australia's strong nation-leading economic
performance.
(1) Can the
Premier update the house on how this government is responding to ideas that
were identified by industry at last Friday's skills summit?
(2) Can the Premier outline how this
response will help to attract and retain skilled workers in WA?�
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the question. As a consequence
of our extraordinarily strong economy and economic management, we now
have a skills shortage. Therefore, we convened the skills summit last Friday,
which brought together over 130 industry and
other attendees to Kings Park to discuss matters. It was a great forum and lots of good ideas were put forward. I want to quote one person who was
there—that is, the president of the Western Australian Farmers Grains
Council, Mic Fels. He told ABC Country Hour on Monday —
Due credit to the WA State
Government, it was very clear at this summit on Friday that from the Premier
down that they understand the gravity of this situation and they � are
committed to coming up with solutions �
Mr Fels is right. We are committed to
coming up with solutions to the difficult circumstances that both the country
and the world are in at the moment. Today, we announced some interim measures
in response to the skills summit that are designed to put in place things that
will help provide skilled and unskilled labour for Western Australia. I want to
outline some of the things that we announced this morning. Firstly, we are
going to expand the adult apprentice employer incentive, which is about
encouraging businesses to employ mature age
apprentices. Eligible employers will now be able to receive up to $26 800 when
they hire a mature age apprentice. There will be an initial 100 places
as part of this. Secondly, we announced the expansion of the state nominated
migration program. We have allocated an additional 5 000 places for this
program for onshore visa holders to fill skilled jobs in Western Australia and
we expect high demand for that program. We have announced a targeted marketing
campaign to attract skilled workers from other parts of Australia—in
particular, other states and territories—but also New Zealand and
recent retirees from Western Australia. What I find is often attractive to
people in other states is the fact that the median price of a house in Western Australia
is about half that of Sydney or Melbourne. Quite often I think, frankly, how do people on ordinary incomes live in cities such
as Melbourne or Sydney? The price of a house here is roughly half, on
average. That means that people can come here and get a great job and afford
housing.
The government is also addressing issues
to do with people who are more disadvantaged in two ways. Firstly, we will put
in place a $5 million program—it has been talked about forever—to
assist people in getting a driver's licence. Many people in regional
and Aboriginal communities cannot get into the workforce because they do not
have a licence. I am going through the program currently—supervising 50
hours of a young person's driving. It is hard to get there. Trust me,
it is hard to get there! And it is demanding!
Getting a licence is a difficult thing for many people to do, so the government
will put in place a program to assist disadvantaged people, particularly
Aboriginal people, to do that. Once a person gets a driver's licence,
it is so much easier to get into the workforce.
Secondly, the government will have a partnership
with the Wirrpanda Foundation to provide Aboriginal jobseekers aged 15 to 24
with targeted assistance to address specific barriers to employment and a range
of regional skills summits as well to hear the thoughts from people in the
regions.
The skills summit was a great event.
The good thing is we have already put in place six or so of those initiatives
as a consequence of the ideas generated there. I would like to thank everyone,
especially the cabinet, for their involvement in this important initiative.
of our extraordinarily strong economy and economic management, we now
have a skills shortage. Therefore, we convened the skills summit last Friday,
which brought together over 130 industry and
other attendees to Kings Park to discuss matters. It was a great forum and lots of good ideas were put forward. I want to quote one person who was
there—that is, the president of the Western Australian Farmers Grains
Council, Mic Fels. He told ABC Country Hour on Monday —
Due credit to the WA State
Government, it was very clear at this summit on Friday that from the Premier
down that they understand the gravity of this situation and they � are
committed to coming up with solutions �
Mr Fels is right. We are committed to
coming up with solutions to the difficult circumstances that both the country
and the world are in at the moment. Today, we announced some interim measures
in response to the skills summit that are designed to put in place things that
will help provide skilled and unskilled labour for Western Australia. I want to
outline some of the things that we announced this morning. Firstly, we are
going to expand the adult apprentice employer incentive, which is about
encouraging businesses to employ mature age
apprentices. Eligible employers will now be able to receive up to $26 800 when
they hire a mature age apprentice. There will be an initial 100 places
as part of this. Secondly, we announced the expansion of the state nominated
migration program. We have allocated an additional 5 000 places for this
program for onshore visa holders to fill skilled jobs in Western Australia and
we expect high demand for that program. We have announced a targeted marketing
campaign to attract skilled workers from other parts of Australia—in
particular, other states and territories—but also New Zealand and
recent retirees from Western Australia. What I find is often attractive to
people in other states is the fact that the median price of a house in Western Australia
is about half that of Sydney or Melbourne. Quite often I think, frankly, how do people on ordinary incomes live in cities such
as Melbourne or Sydney? The price of a house here is roughly half, on
average. That means that people can come here and get a great job and afford
housing.
The government is also addressing issues
to do with people who are more disadvantaged in two ways. Firstly, we will put
in place a $5 million program—it has been talked about forever—to
assist people in getting a driver's licence. Many people in regional
and Aboriginal communities cannot get into the workforce because they do not
have a licence. I am going through the program currently—supervising 50
hours of a young person's driving. It is hard to get there. Trust me,
it is hard to get there! And it is demanding!
Getting a licence is a difficult thing for many people to do, so the government
will put in place a program to assist disadvantaged people, particularly
Aboriginal people, to do that. Once a person gets a driver's licence,
it is so much easier to get into the workforce.
Secondly, the government will have a partnership
with the Wirrpanda Foundation to provide Aboriginal jobseekers aged 15 to 24
with targeted assistance to address specific barriers to employment and a range
of regional skills summits as well to hear the thoughts from people in the
regions.
The skills summit was a great event.
The good thing is we have already put in place six or so of those initiatives
as a consequence of the ideas generated there. I would like to thank everyone,
especially the cabinet, for their involvement in this important initiative.
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