OPINION – ANNE WEBSTER
I HEAR it all over Mallee – “we are crying out for workers”.
This is true in every sector.
Australia is facing a shortage of workers: skilled, semi skilled and unskilled.
Under my regional health shadow portfolio I know all too well that the health-care sector is desperate.
In the regions, we have thin markets.
A thin market is defined as not enough workforce for the needs of the communities across large distances.
This is why Labor’s skilled visa oversight hurts.
This week it was revealed that, under a ministerial direction by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, skilled migrants across the healthcare and education sectors who apply to work in the regions are at the bottom of the pile – now waiting more than two years for a Skilled – regional visa (subclass 887).
This is despite being in occupations designated for priority processing by Mr Giles’ government.
The reason? Subclass 887 visas are not tied to an occupation – they are blanket visas for workers from overseas who want to work in Australia’s regions.
While this is going on, migrants in those sectors who apply for different types of skills shortage visas – including those who want to work in the cities – are getting fast tracked with applications in as little as 25 days.
Official Department of Immigration correspondence has confirmed subclass 887 visas have been designated as priority 5 – all other visas. In other words, last.
As a result, a doctor or nurse who wants to work in Swan Hill or Kerang is being bumped to the bottom of the pile for a doctor or nurse who want to work in Bondi – all because of a simple
classification error by the Labor Government.
So while the workforce is stretched thin, there are thousands of these subclass 887 visa applicants potentially waiting to be approved so they can staff our regional hospitals, medical clinics and
schools as well as other jobs.
It is a simple detail missed by Labor that is costing the regions big time, and it needs to be fixed.
