Skills and Training Minister Brendan O'Connor says the Labor Government will prioritise investing in training Australian workers over increasing the intake of skilled migrants to address critical skills shortages.
The Australian labour market is currently suffering from a shortage of skilled workers, which has largely been blamed on lower numbers of skilled migrants.
“If we invest appropriately so that they can acquire the skills and knowledge in areas of demand so that they can get secure employment.” “There are people that are not in the labour market right now that want to get a job and we need to invest in them, we need to provide them the skill so they can work in areas of demand here and now,” he told First Edition host Peter Stefanovic.
Mr O’Connor acknowledged that Australia had relied on skilled migrants in the past and said it would continue to do so in conjunction with increased investment on workers Down Under. The Business Council of Australia has called on the government to overhaul the current migration program to address the critical skills shortages.
"We want to see a catch-up boost to the permanent migration program, with at least two-thirds of places for skilled workers."
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