State Small Business Minister Margaret Quirk has accused the Federal Government of failing to recognise the importance of temporary skilled 457 visas in addressing Western Australia's skills shortage.
The full text of a Ministerial announcement is pasted below
The Federal Government has failed to recognise the importance of temporary skilled 457 visas as a viable means of addressing chronic skills shortages in Western Australia.
Small Business Minister Margaret Quirk said the mining and construction industries in WA had indicated a need for more than 60,000 skilled workers over the next 10 years.
"Raising the total number of temporary skilled visas by 5,000 to 102,000 for the entire country will not meet Western Australia's industry needs over the next 12 months," Ms Quirk said.
"The Federal Government's increased vigilance on errant employers who abuse the privilege of sponsoring 457 visa holders is welcome, but in doing so, it has overlooked the volume of workers actually required."
Ms Quirk said the State Government had $23.3 billion of infrastructure projects currently under construction in WA, as well as public and private investment in infrastructure estimated to reach $650billion over the next 20 years.
"This, together with the amount of projects underway in the mining and construction sectors, means Western Australia has a very real need for more skilled workers," she said.
"Increasing the total number of 457 visas by only 5,000 is a gross miscalculation by the Federal Government."