Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying in the answer that I have just given, Western Australia has had a 34 per cent increase since 2004-05 in the use of these visas, but there would be other government instrumentalities within Western Australia that would use them. The Western Australian councils are also seeking workers from Britain and Ireland—they do not have to worry about Beijing, Beirut or Bombay. The Western Australian Local Government Association chief, Ricky Burges, in the West Australian last week said the recruiting drive did meet some resistance, but she said: ‘Look, we’re happy to employ locals, but in effect we just can’t get them. Many of the councils are really stretched.’ States and territories have sponsored, facilitated, brokered and recruited something like 50,000 overseas workers since 2001—not all of them on 457s. Since 2002 South Australia has more than quadrupled its state sponsored skilled migration intake and Queensland’s has more than tripled, as has Western Australia’s. (Time expired)