David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank all members for their contributions to the debate on the New Skilled Regional Visas (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019. I would also like to recognise that this bill is the result of successful collaboration across multiple different Commonwealth agencies, and I thank those agencies for their work.

The bill makes consequential amendments to legislation administered by the Department of Social Services, the Department of Education and the Attorney-General's Department to give effect to government policy that holders of new provisional skilled regional visas, which come into effect on 16 November this year, will have access to government services consistent with skilled permanent visa holders. The new provisional skilled regional visas are set out in the Migration Amendment (New Skilled Regional Visas) Regulations 2019. They are subclass 491, the skilled work regional provisional visa for skilled people who are nominated by a state or territory government or sponsored by an eligible family member to live and work in regional Australia, and subclass 494, the skilled employer sponsored regional provisional visa enabling an Australian business to sponsor skilled workers to work in their business in regional Australia.

These new visas are part of the government's plan for Australia's future population, to ease the pressure on the big capitals while supporting the growth of those smaller cities and regions that want more people. The plan includes reducing the annual migration ceiling from 190,000 to 160,000 places and setting aside 23,000 places for these new regional visas. The visas will support businesses in regional Australia to get the skills they need quickly.

A key feature of the new visas will be a requirement for regional migrants to live and work in a regional area for three years before being eligible for permanent residence. This is a very important feature which will encourage visa holders to remain in regional Australia, which in turn will support local communities and economies, and enhance population growth in regional parts of the nation. These changes will have a low financial impact while ensuring that provisional skilled regional visa holders are not disadvantaged compared to holders of permanent skilled visas available for people to work in metropolitan areas. Holders of these new visas will support local businesses and economies and contribute to rural and regional communities throughout Australia. It's all a part of the government's focus on improving migration to regional Australia and providing skilled migration to those regional parts of Australia where it is most needed. In summary, this bill deserves the support of all members, and I commend it to the House.

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