Britain’s visa move ‘will steal our tradies’

The relaxing of visa rules for foreign bricklayers and plasterers in the UK has been met with ‘alarm’ by peak Australian construction bodies.

Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn.

The relaxing of visa rules for foreign bricklayers and plasterers in the UK has been met with “alarm” by peak Australian construction bodies, who say the changes will make it “doubly hard” to attract foreign workers to the struggling industry.

The UK this month announced a number of construction jobs – including bricklayers, carpenters and plasterers – would have their visa rules relaxed to plug the country’s skills gap, in a move that will allow foreign workers to benefit from lower application fees and be paid 80 per cent of the job’s going rate while getting a skilled worker visa.

Master Builders Australia said the policy would increase competition for skilled workers for the Australian industry, which was still struggling with shortages that had blown out the time taken to build a home from nine months to 13 months earlier this year.

MBA chief executive Denita Wawn said the UK announcement had prompted concern from the industry, which had been calling for more streamlined visa processes to attract skilled migrants to Australia.

“I saw that (announcement) and I was quite alarmed because any time one of our competitors makes it easier, it makes it doubly harder for us,” she said.

“The only thing going for us at the moment is hopefully the weather and environment. But (in Australia) you are hampered by difficult visa processes and costs. So this announcement in the UK raised considerable concern.”

Ms Wawn cited an example of a qualified electrician from Austria who had come to Australia on a backpacker’s visa with the desire to convert to a skilled visa, but faced costs of about $10,000 and a six-months wait time.

“I just thought, wow, this is crazy. Surely to goodness there are opportunities whereby if he does need additional training, it could be undertaken while he is working as an electrician even if he had a provisional licence while he undertook that work,” she said.

The MBA earlier this year said Australia would need an additional 486,000 workers for the building and construction sectors.