Ahead of next month's federal budget, both the Coalition and the Miner's Union have speculated on whether the government's rumoured plan to boost skilled by 5000 or more will properly address the significant skills shortages currently being experienced in Western Australia and Queensland.

As reported by The Australian;

Amid reports Treasurer Wayne Swan is poised to boost the number of skilled migrants by at least 5000 in next month's federal budget, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union says the rise should be targeted to tackle “genuine shortages”.

CFMEU construction national secretary David Noonan demanded better labour market testing to ensure employers tried to try to hire Australian workers first, although he stressed the union favoured permanent migration over an increase in temporary workers coming in on 457 visas.

“We need to be careful the skilled migration scheme is not a scheme that can be abused by unscrupulous employers, who bring people in rather than give jobs to unemployed Australians.”

Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison demanded more details, saying a 5000 person boost to permanent migration was “a blunt instrument to deal with skills shortages”.

“Boosting permanent migration is not the best way to deal with the skills crisis in states like Western Australia and Queensland. Well over half of skilled migrants end up in Melbourne or Sydney,” he said.

“We think it's necessary to use more targeted immigration measures, which are particularly available in the temporary skilled migration area, and we also believe we need to train more Australians.

But the Minerals Council of Australia said a permanent migration boost would help ameliorate workforce shortages and counter the reliance on temporary skilled migrants.

“It is in line with historical skilled migrant intakes and could help alleviate some of the skilled labour shortages the industry faces,” a spokesman said.

The current skilled migrant intake stands at 125,850 people.

To read the full article at The Australian, click here.

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