❓ Mr. Rundle questions the Minister for Training regarding a 70% cut to WA's state nominated migration program and the Prime Minister's assurances. The Minister expresses confidence in the relationship with the federal government and their efforts to address visa processing backlogs.
AnsweredQoN 551Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE ECONOMY — MIGRATION
551. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Training:
I refer to the joint press
conference between the minister and the Prime Minister yesterday afternoon and
note the federal government's
decision to slash WA's allocation under the state nominated migration
program by 70 per cent . Is the minister satisfied with the Prime
Minister's comments that the skilled migrant shortfall might be made up
in the future—yes or no?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members! The Minister for Training has the call.
551. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Training:
I refer to the joint press
conference between the minister and the Prime Minister yesterday afternoon and
note the federal government's
decision to slash WA's allocation under the state nominated migration
program by 70 per cent . Is the minister satisfied with the Prime
Minister's comments that the skilled migrant shortfall might be made up
in the future—yes or no?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members! The Minister for Training has the call.
AnswerView source ↗
Unlike
the previous Liberal–National coalition government and its federal
counterpart, we have a good relationship with our federal government and
are able to work through a number of issues. That is certainly the case when it comes to training and skills development and
it is certainly the case when it comes to the Albanese Labor government understanding the issues that are facing our state. That was nowhere better
demonstrated than in the last few days when the entire federal cabinet held
meetings in Western Australia and spent time around the state to understand the
issues that are confronting our community, our employers, government agencies
and the like. I am certainly very confident that we have a good relationship
and that we can continue to work through issues.
The federal government said to both
the Premier and me that it was challenged by the completely dysfunctional visa
processing system that it inherited when it came to office. There was a huge
backlog of applications and a lack of capacity within the public sector to
manage those applications. That is one of the things that it has been working
through in a number of ways. The first was a review of the entire migration
system. The plethora of different visa categories is one issue; it is very
confusing and complex for people to navigate. The federal government wants to
improve the simplicity of the system for people who want to live, study or work
in Australia. The second thing it has been working on is the time taken to
process the applications, so that people get a timely response. It is working through those issues. It has put more staff into
the processing system and they are working through the backlog of tens
of thousands of visa applications. I understand that and take the federal
government at its word. I am sure that is the case.
As the member knows, Western Australia's
economy is in rude health; we are going well by every measure. But the other
side of that healthy coin is that skills are in demand. As well as needing to
train local people to fill those skills needs—I am looking forward to
the debate on this tomorrow, as we are putting a huge effort into skilling
local people—we understand that we need to bring in skilled migrants.
We communicated that very forcefully to the federal government prior to its
announcement about the overall number. Over the last couple of days, I have had
the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Skills and Training, Hon Brendan
O'Connor; briefly with the Prime Minister, including during the press
conference that the member referred to; and briefly with the assistant minister
for immigration. I was able to make the point to all of them that employers
need skilled migrants now. The federal government needs to overcome some of the
processing issues, and I understand that it is trying to work through them.
What we do not want to do is to send a message to overseas markets that there
will be any reduction in our capacity to host overseas —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Perhaps the
Leader of the Opposition could listen, as he might learn something.
We do not want to send the message
to overseas markets that there is a foot on the hose when it comes to
attracting skilled migrants to Western Australia.
I appreciated the constructive dialogue with federal ministers when they were here in Western Australia, and I am
confident that we will be able to reach an outcome with the federal government.
The SPEAKER : Just before I take
the member's supplementary, I note that it is not permitted to stand at
the back. You can sit in the Speaker's gallery if you like.
the previous Liberal–National coalition government and its federal
counterpart, we have a good relationship with our federal government and
are able to work through a number of issues. That is certainly the case when it comes to training and skills development and
it is certainly the case when it comes to the Albanese Labor government understanding the issues that are facing our state. That was nowhere better
demonstrated than in the last few days when the entire federal cabinet held
meetings in Western Australia and spent time around the state to understand the
issues that are confronting our community, our employers, government agencies
and the like. I am certainly very confident that we have a good relationship
and that we can continue to work through issues.
The federal government said to both
the Premier and me that it was challenged by the completely dysfunctional visa
processing system that it inherited when it came to office. There was a huge
backlog of applications and a lack of capacity within the public sector to
manage those applications. That is one of the things that it has been working
through in a number of ways. The first was a review of the entire migration
system. The plethora of different visa categories is one issue; it is very
confusing and complex for people to navigate. The federal government wants to
improve the simplicity of the system for people who want to live, study or work
in Australia. The second thing it has been working on is the time taken to
process the applications, so that people get a timely response. It is working through those issues. It has put more staff into
the processing system and they are working through the backlog of tens
of thousands of visa applications. I understand that and take the federal
government at its word. I am sure that is the case.
As the member knows, Western Australia's
economy is in rude health; we are going well by every measure. But the other
side of that healthy coin is that skills are in demand. As well as needing to
train local people to fill those skills needs—I am looking forward to
the debate on this tomorrow, as we are putting a huge effort into skilling
local people—we understand that we need to bring in skilled migrants.
We communicated that very forcefully to the federal government prior to its
announcement about the overall number. Over the last couple of days, I have had
the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Skills and Training, Hon Brendan
O'Connor; briefly with the Prime Minister, including during the press
conference that the member referred to; and briefly with the assistant minister
for immigration. I was able to make the point to all of them that employers
need skilled migrants now. The federal government needs to overcome some of the
processing issues, and I understand that it is trying to work through them.
What we do not want to do is to send a message to overseas markets that there
will be any reduction in our capacity to host overseas —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Perhaps the
Leader of the Opposition could listen, as he might learn something.
We do not want to send the message
to overseas markets that there is a foot on the hose when it comes to
attracting skilled migrants to Western Australia.
I appreciated the constructive dialogue with federal ministers when they were here in Western Australia, and I am
confident that we will be able to reach an outcome with the federal government.
The SPEAKER : Just before I take
the member's supplementary, I note that it is not permitted to stand at
the back. You can sit in the Speaker's gallery if you like.
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