Premier Roger Cook has called on his federal counterparts to sort out resourcing issues as the state fights to bolster its overseas workforce.
Premier Roger Cook has called on his federal counterparts to sort out resourcing issues as the state fights to bolster its overseas workforce.
The WA government is pushing back against reported Commonwealth plans for a 70 per cent reduction in WA’s allocation of skilled migrants allowed under the State Nominated Migration Program.
Yet to be formally announced by the Federal Government, it’s understood the mooted shift would entitle WA to 2350 spots on the register in 2023-24, down from more than 8000 in 2022-23.
If delivered, the reduction would come despite WA’s unemployment rate bucking Australian trends in July, continuing to tighten to 3.4 per cent against a broader easing nationally.
It also comes in the wake of an incentivised target set by National Cabinet last week of 1.2 million new home builds across the country over the next five years.
Residential construction delays largely attributed to labour and material shortages have significantly impacted the WA market in recent years.
Fronting media today, Mr Cook said he hadn’t heard back from the Prime Minister on a request to reconsider the reduction but continued to push the issue.
“I put to the Prime Minister that if we are to meet our targets in relation to the national target around home construction, then we need the workers to do that construction,” he said.
“That’s why the State Nominated Migration Program has to have a bigger quota for Western Australia, because we need those workers to make sure we can supercharge our home construction industry.”
Mr Cook called on the Albanese Government to sort out resourcing issues in the Department of Immigration which could inhibit migrant processing.
“I absolutely concede that’s an issue, but it’s one that I expect the Federal Government to get on top of,” he said.
“We are doing our best to support the Western Australian economy, and make sure that we provide great jobs for Western Australians.
“The only way that we can continue to do that is if we have the workers we need for our target industries, which includes our housing construction sector.”
More than 500 occupations were eligible for state nomination in WA last year.
