NT businesses fear new migration agreement will continue to be bogged down in bureacracy

BUSINESSES hoping to lure more skilled overseas workers to the NT are concerned the Territory’s latest migration agreement with the Federal Government will continue to be bogged down by the bureaucracy

Slovakian migrant worker Jana Sykoroba with Darren Lynch, owner of The Precinct. Picture: Keri Megelus

BUSINESSES hoping to lure more skilled overseas workers to the NT are concerned the Territory’s latest migration agreement with the Federal Government will continue to be bogged down by the bureaucracy.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he was confident the second Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA II) would be a “complete game-changer” while spruiking the agreement to local business owners yesterday.

Unlike before, DAMA II visa holders will now be able to apply for permanent residency after working in the NT for at least three years.

Mr Gunner said the appealing pathway to permanent residency would give skilled migrants a big incentive to move to the NT and stay long-term.

“We know from working and talking with businesses that this will see a huge change in uptake in people filling those skilled and semi-skilled positions,” he said.

RELATED: New agreement to attract migrant workers to NT

Darwin restaurateur Darren Lynch, who owns The Precinct and Wharf One, said while he agreed it would attract more interest from migrant workers, local businesses like his who apply to endorse their visas would still have to endure a lengthy process riddled with red tape.

Under DAMA II, employers must seek to hire Australian workers through conduct-ing labour market testing before any overseas workers can be recruited by them.

“We’ve sponsored around 15 people through DAMA and in all honesty the NT migration have been excellent … the major issue comes back to the Federal Government, the immigration there are not user-friendly,” he said.

“I think they’ve got policy to reduce the amount of sponsored people in the country, so there’s been challenges with that and I think they will remain even with DAMA II.”

One of his overseas workers, Jana Sykoroba from Slovakia, said the appeals of permanent residency would be very effective in bringing more migrants like her to the NT.

“It can be a very long and painstaking process to get your permanent residency in Australia, so I think this will definitely catch people’s attention,” she said.

“I came to work in the NT at the beginning of 2018 – I’ve grown to love it here and want to stay.”

Mr Gunner said DAMA II would complement the Territory Government’s existing $50 million population scheme that offers incentives for people working in “high priority jobs” to move to the NT.

“We’ve set an overall target for our scheme to bring a total of 2600 people each year and 500 from DAMA II,” he said.

.

THE NEW MIGRANT JOB LIST

The additional 36 jobs now available to overseas nationals in the NT under DAMA II include:

Beef Cattle Farmer

Bookkeeper

Child Care Centre Manager

Civil Engineering Technician

Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher

Electrical Linesworker

Excavator Operator

Floor Finisher

Flying Instructor

Forklift Driver

Hardware Technician

Hotel or Motel Receptionist

ICT Customer Support Officer

ICT Support Technicians nec

Linemarker

Management Accountant

Marketing Specialist

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farmer

Mixed Crop Farmer

Mixed Livestock Farmer

Motor Vehicle or Caravan Salesperson

Motor Vehicle Parts and Accessories Fitter (General)

Out of School Hours Care Worker

Panelbeater

Pharmacy Technician

Plumber (General)

Program or Project Administrator

Property Manager

Recreation Officer

Ship’s Engineer

Ship’s Master

Therapy Aide

Vehicle Painter

Waste Water or Water Plant Operator

Web Administrator

Web Designer

Originally published as NT businesses fear new migration agreement will continue to be bogged down in bureacracy