Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bennelong for his question. I know that in representing his diverse community so well these are issues of great importance to him. He has already been a terrific advocate to all of these questions. He knows, and members on the side know, that when we came into government there were almost one million visas waiting to be processed, an enormous backlog for a country of our size and with huge consequences for our society and indeed for our economy. Today I am pleased to let members know the number is now below 600,000.

Working with my friend the Minister for Home Affairs, we have sought to deliver the certainty that is so important for families, for businesses and, importantly, for prospective migrants, because we recognise that we are in a global fight for talents. After the investment in the visa system that was secured through the Jobs and Skills Summit, at which some members were not represented, there are now an additional 485 staff supporting our visa system. These hardworking people have helped process more than 4.7 million visa applications.

This is only possible because the investments the Albanese government has been making and, of course, the hard work of these workers. Their work has seen a real difference. Waiting times for visa categories like international students and skilled workers have now been slashed. I am pleased to advise that international students looking to come and study at universities here now wait an average of 12 days instead of the months and months it was when we were sworn in as ministers. Applications for temporary skills shortages are now turned around in weeks instead of the months it was under those opposite. In critical areas of need, which the member for Chifley has been talking about so effectively and so often, like IT and cybersecurity, the time to process a temporary skilled visa is down by 60 per cent. This government is filling skills shortages right across this country, in the cities and the regions, by delivering a regional visa program that is—get this—three times larger than that delivered by those opposite.

We have also, unlike those opposite, recognised the importance of citizenship. We are a nation built on citizenship. It is a common bond that unites all Australians. Too many Australians have waited too long under those opposite because of the previous government's long-term neglect of the immigration function of national government. On their watch, citizenship processing times tripled, but I am pleased to announce that now, for the first time in over five years, there are fewer than 100,000 citizenship applications waiting to be processed. We are taking responsibility and getting on with the job, not just talking about problems but solving them.

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