Shift in government thinking required

MIGRATION is such a broad ranging and complex issue that it needs to be concentrated in a single arm of government, the recent WA Business News migration forum was told.

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship currently handle the policy making and processes related to the area.

However, businesses and migration professionals are calling for immigration matters to be concentrated under one portfolio.

Dealing with two different government departments has further complicated the process of getting overseas workers in Western Australia, according to BHP Billiton Iron Ore IR and HR manager, Dave Sproule.

"You've got policies on immigration that are set by Senator [Chris] Evans and you have another arm of bureaucracy, which is DEWR, and those two have irreconcilable aims and objectives," Mr Sproule told the forum.

"You've got agreement in one arm of government and the other arm is pushing you in the opposite direction.

"There does need to be transformational thinking, we need to urge them to start moving towards a risk-based framework, and they need to get all the arms of government working together jointly, because it's an incredibly frustrating process."

Skill Hire state recruitment manager Paul Whittle said immigration decision making needed to be centralised.

"You have different groups of people making the decision and as far as migration is concerned it's just too complicated," Mr Whittle said.

Interstaff International chief executive officer Dan Engles hopes Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard will eventually take over all immigration matters.

"At the macro level, the Department of Immigration is not the appropriate policy body to be discussing the issue of protecting the Australian labour market. I think Julia Gillard made some noise and said 'it's my department'," Mr Engles said.

"I think that's an issue that we have to confront because it will then lead to a rethink of how the system works."

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief executive James Pearson said immigration was a potentially powerful portfolio that had a social and economic impact.

"But it seems that the government doesn't understand yet that population and migration policy are in the same terms as you think of fiscal policy," Mr Pearson said.

"They are potentially powerful levers available to government to make sure that the economy has enough flexibility to take full advantage of the good times and respond quickly to the down times.

"But migration policy isn't thought of in those terms at the moment, it's only thought of as a social policy issue."

Mr Engles said Ms Gillard had to pick apart the issue of the protection of the Australian labour market.

"Looking at the benefits that we get from skilled international workers coming in; some of the country has paid for all the education, all the training, and they're job ready and they're willing to do it at $60,000 a year compared to the ridiculous labour rates that we're getting at the moment," Mr Engles said.