THE HON SUSSAN LEY MP
DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, SKILLS AND TRAINING SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR FARRER
THE HON DAN TEHAN MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR WANNON
The updated Occupation Shortage List confirms Australia’s construction sector is facing national skills shortages of tradies across the board, with shortages in almost all trades in every state and territory.
This means skills shortages that are making the housing and construction crisis worse have not been addressed by any of Labor’s efforts, including Fee-Free TAFE.
Instead of helping, Labor’s migration settings to date have made it worse. In just two years, Labor has brought in a million migrants without a proper plan to house them or proper prioritisation of skilled workers.
Given this latest update from Jobs and Skills Australia, the Coalition is calling on Immigration Minister Tony Burke to fix the mess created by now Skills Minister Andrew Giles and the now Housing Minister Clare O’Neil.
He must prioritise the listing of skilled housing construction tradies on the Core Skills Occupations List. Under the current draft Core Skills Occupations List, developed and signed off by Andrew Giles, Clare O’Neil and Brendan O’Connor, many key construction tradies including bricklayers, painters, roof tilers and stonemasons are not in line to be prioritised.
Instead, Wushu Martial Arts and Yoga Instructors are. That must change. Labor must guarantee today that they will list all construction trades on the Core Skills Occupations List and ensure they are prioritised for visas under the skilled migration program.
Construction and hospitality are confronting some of the worst conditions on record. The dire situation confronting Australia’s hospitality sector demands attention too.
The Government must also prioritise visas for cooks and chefs to help the hospitality industry address its severe shortage of skilled workers.
Industry sources suggest that the brief is sitting on Minister Burke’s desk for decision. Despite Minister for Housing Clare O’Neil now acknowledging the impact skills shortages are having on the construction industry, she failed to do anything about it as Home Affairs Minister.
She was warned by Jobs and Skills Australia as part of the Migration Strategy process that all construction trades were in shortage and that it was having a direct impact on the capacity of Australia to build houses.
Instead of responding to the acute skills shortages identified by Jobs and Skills Australia, Clare O’Neil specifically excluded tradies from the Specialist Skills Pathway, the highest priority visa.
She put tradies at the bottom of the pile.Then the Albanese Government doubled down, with its draft skilled migration list placing yoga instructors as getting priority skills processing ahead of construction workers.
Given this latest update from Jobs and Skills Australia, it is time for Labor to reverse course and make up for its hapless decisions in the Skills portfolio.
