Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Chifley for his very important question. As the honourable member correctly points out, ensuring that we have migrants moving to regions where there is demand is very important, not only economically but also socially. There are many regions around the nation which are crying out for more people to live in them—both migrants from overseas and people moving around Australia. That was the focus of our announcements on budget day in relation to regional migration, particularly skilled migration but also humanitarian migration. It important that we have humanitarian migrants settling in the regions. That goes to the question of the honourable member for Newcastle in ensuring we have adequate support in place.

We have made good progress on this under governments of both persuasions. We have seen a fourfold increase in the number of skilled migrants settling in regional Australia over the last decade, under governments of both persuasions. That is very good thing because it is good for the regions, it is good for capital cities in terms of dealing with their congestion pressures—concerns which the honourable member, as a fellow Western Sydney MP, shares with me—and it ensures that we have the appropriate measures in place.

We announced a number of measures on budget day on regional migration. We made an allocation for regional skilled migration of 16,000 places. That will be dependent on demand, but that is an indication of what we feel would be appropriate and what we would be prepared to accommodate should that demand be there. I hope and expect that demand will be there. There are a number of other measures which we have put in place. The regional migration agreements will bring together employers, local and state governments, regional development organisations, chambers of commerce and unions. The definition of a region will change across the country, and I am not intending to be prescriptive about it. It may be that, in some cases, a group of local councils commonly regarded as one region will join together to develop a regional migration agreement; in other cases, it may well be that different boundaries apply. We will be taking a flexible approach to applications from organisations—primarily local government, I would envisage—in the definition of a region. That will enable template agreements and clear and easy processing for small businesses, in particular, and larger businesses in those regions to enable them to attract the necessary workers under 457 and other temporary arrangements.

I think that is something that has been welcomed. There has been a lot of interest from local governments around the country. A number have come to see me about how that would work and a number have contacted the Department of Immigration and Citizenship seeking more information, and I look forward to working with local governments and regional development organisations across the country. It is not just a matter of rural areas; as the honourable member for Chifley correctly points out, regions can have a broad definition. We will take a flexible approach to that. All of that complements the other measures taken in the budget by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations for a very significant investment in skills training. A $3 billion package was announced in the budget.

We recognise that training takes time and that temporary migration and permanent migration, with our significant increase in skilled migration, will play a role in that. I think that has been widely welcomed. For example, Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott said:

In the area of skills the BCA called for a three-pronged strategy built around improving the education and training of Australian workers, maintenance of the permanent skilled migration program and new initiatives in the area of temporary migration. The skills package included in the Budget comprehensively addresses all of these areas.

I welcome the endorsement of the Business Council of Australia and others and I look forward to implementing those regional skilled migration agreements and other regional measures that we announced on budget day.

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