Sydney-based housing developer Mark Bainey of Capio Property Group summarised Australia’s farcical ‘skilled’ visa system as follows:
“The key thing holding back construction at the moment is the supply of skilled labour”.
“We have a lot of unskilled labour but not enough skilled labour”.
“Nobody wants to study a trade or be a tradie”.
“The migration rules are not bringing in enough skilled migrants – they’re bringing in yoga teachers but not enough tradies”.
In June, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) expressed similar sentiments, complaining that “just 1,346 workers in construction trades have been granted temporary work visas in the nine months to March 2024″.
The latest paper from The Australian Population Research Institute (TAPRI) also explained how “very few construction tradies are being visaed under the employer sponsored or skilled permanent entry visa programs”.
“For example, employers can sponsor such skills under the Employer Nomination Scheme which allows employers to sponsor skilled construction workers for permanent entry visas”.
“However, over the May 1, to August 31 months of 2023, just 76 of these visas were granted to plumbers and 195 to electricians”.
“Skilled construction workers are also eligible for the points-tested permanent-entry skilled visa programs. But again, very few are utilising this entry point”.
“Again, over the same period from May 2022 to 31 August 2023 (while Labor was in office), there were only 139 of such visas issued to plumbers, 658 to carpenters and 391 to electricians”.
The above criticisms follow the exclusion of tradies and construction workers from the draft skills priority list for migrants, whereas yoga instructors, martial artists, and dog handlers were included on the list.
Sadly, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed with India four years ago baked in the importation of yoga instructors and chefs:
The yoga instructor visa farce was basically a sop to India, alongside the recently signed migration pacts that give greater rights to Indians wishing to work and migrate to Australia than other nations.
Check out the below mutual recognition agreement signed by Australia and India. It was clearly drafted by the Indian side on an ancient typewriter, punch holes intact!
Through its various dumb migration deals, Australia has effectively Swiss cheesed its immigration policy, reduced its ability to control migration numbers and quality, and reduced Australia’s sovereignty in controlling its borders.
More generally, Australia has been left in a position where it is importing a huge number of people into questionable lower-skilled people-service professions that do not have genuine shortages.
These imported migrants, therefore, raise housing demand without significantly increasing supply.
Migrants are critically underrepresented in the construction industry, as discussed above and illustrated below:
As a result, Australia is perennially short of housing and infrastructure.
Clearly, Australia requires a far smaller migrant intake centred on the skills the economy genuinely needs.
Net overseas migration must be set at a level below the country’s ability to build homes and infrastructure.
Otherwise, Australia’s housing market will remain in constant shortage, and living standards and productivity will continue to be hampered by the never-ending population boom.
