Business leaders warn the country risks missing out on a generation of talent after Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil dashed hopes that major fixes to the broken migration system would be revealed in the May budget, declaring the overhaul a time-consuming and complex project.

BHP criticised the government’s retrograde introduction of multi-employer bargaining as adding complexity for a sector already paying its workers well. The miner was joined by conglomerate Wesfarmers in warning the government’s next industrial reform targets relating to casual workers and labour hire could also disrupt their workforces, just as Australia falls behind in the global race for talent.