Alex Hawke flags skilled worker boost

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke says the government will consider letting more skilled foreign workers into the country next year to ease labour shortages.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has said getting skilled migrants to ease labour shortages will be a priority for the government. Picture: Martin Ollman

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke says the government will consider letting more skilled foreign workers into the country next year to ease the pressure on businesses struggling with labour shortages caused by closed borders through the pandemic.

Mr Hawke said the government was prioritising the return of Australian citizens abroad, but after that “skilled migration is a priority”.

As business groups warn of a “skills crunch” after net migration turned negative for the first time in a century, Mr Hawke said “you can imagine the government (will) consider carefully the shortages, how we meet those shortages and whether we do need to increase the program”.

“What is most important is not just the number and the quality, but the composition of the program,” he said.

The Morrison government has set the permanent migration intake at 160,000 a year. “We’ve been very clear in saying skilled migration will get the priority we need (as a country), and critical shortages will get the priority we need, and we will work with the states, territories, industries (and) business to get those people back in those critical shortages first.”

Josh Frydenberg has also flagged a ­review of the nation’s migration policies, saying there were issues to be addressed “in terms of the size and composition of our migration program”.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry this week called for the nation’s annual skilled migration intake to be ramped up to 200,000 people, alongside a revamp of the program to make “it less complex and less ­expensive”.

Mr Hawke said foreign workers and students would still want to come to Australia once border restrictions were lifted, and the government would work hard to get them back.

“As we move out of the pandemic, we do need to show the world we are here,” he said. “From a migration perspective, we have enormous applications and interest in Australia. We believe skilled migration will come back very quickly because Australia is a very attractive destination and the government will ensure people are incentivised to come back.

“We miss our students, we miss our tourists, and we miss our temporary workforces, and we’re confident they’ll come back.”

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett said small businesses were struggling to get the staff they needed, and he was “worried about the cost of labour” at a time of soaring input costs.

At the Tax Institute Summit on Wednesday, Mr Kennett said “I cannot tell you how many motor mechanics today, (and) small manufacturers, tell me they can’t get labour”.

He said getting foreign students back into the country was integral to a post-Covid economic rebound. “If we are going to have a recovery as quickly as most people would want, we need our university students back … and that is not going to happen overnight.”