Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, there will undoubtedly be an element of immigration required to meet the general workforce challenges of the aged-care sector, whether it be as a result of this legislation or because of the crisis in the aged-care workforce that was left behind from the former government, just as there is a workforce crisis in agriculture, in hospitality, in manufacturing, in construction and in every industry of the economy because of the failure of the former government to act. Immigration will be a part of it. I have seen the minister's announcement about work being done under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility program to source workers for our aged-care sector in addition to other sectors of the economy, but that is in addition to the range of measures we have already put in place to train locals and to provide skilling opportunities for locals to work in aged care, again, which were never put in place by the former government.