Key Points
- Anthony Albanese says increasing skilled migration is only part of the solution to addressing labour shortages.
- It comes as NSW Treasurer Matt Keane calls on the federal government to fast-track visas for foreign workers.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says increasing skilled migration is only part of the solution to addressing labour shortages as pressure mounts on the government to fast-track visas for foreign workers.
In an opinion piece in The Australian newspaper on Monday, NSW Treasurer Matt Keane urged the commonwealth to take urgent action to boost the supply of workers.
He suggests the commonwealth should temporarily increase the number of skilled visa places, particularly for those working as carers.
He also wants a new visa category targeting lower-skilled occupations.
In an opinion piece in The Australian newspaper on Monday, NSW Treasurer Matt Keane urged the commonwealth to take urgent action to boost the supply of workers. Source: AAP
He said he wants to give Australians opportunities, but added: "At the same time, we recognise that the immediate skills shortages need to be dealt with and we will be dealing with those constructively but also we need better planning."
Mr Albanese said he recognised skilled migration was important to employers, but the government also wanted to invest "in our own workforce".
In his opinion piece, Mr Keane said he wants tens of thousands of outstanding visa applications for skilled migrants to be fast-tracked as soon as possible.
"The commonwealth doesn't need to wait for a jobs summit, it doesn't need to ask the unions for permission, it doesn't need to wait for an October federal budget; it needs to make the call to start stamping passports today," he said.
"I've been briefed that there are tens of thousands of skilled workers just waiting to be approved to come to Australia and work."
Mr Albanese said he was aware all state and territory governments were concerned about the skills shortage.
"They are a handbrake on business activity and (Victorian Premier) Daniel Andrews and (NSW Premier) Dominic Perrottet both wrote to me a little while ago and that is part of the context of having the jobs and skills summit," Mr Albanese said after touring a jeweller's workshop in Sydney.
The jobs and skills summit is set to be held on 1-2 September and the government says it will "bring together Australians, including unions, employers, civil society and governments to address our shared economic challenges".
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has ruled out attending, but National Party leader David Littleproud is expected to take part.
The notes one of the goals of the summit is: "Improving migration settings to support higher productivity and wages".
"Ensuring women have equal opportunities and equal pay" is also noted as an objective.
On Sunday, Mr Albanese said an agreement bolstering the "common interests" of employers and unions should be struck.
"What we are interested in is making sure we can have improvements in enterprise bargaining that we can focus there on productivity and we can focus on ways in which business and unions come together," he told Sky News.
"Through collaboration, you'll get better outcomes.
"So I'm very hopeful, for example, at the jobs and skills summit, that we can get agreement between employers and unions about their common interests."
With additional reporting by AAP.
