Anthony Albanese opens up the floodgates to 195,000 new migrants

An extra 35,000 migrants will be allowed into Australia to deal with huge labour shortages crippling the country.

Anthony Albanese has lifted the intake from 160,000 to 195,000 for the 2022-23 financial year.

Announcing the change at the Jobs and Skills summit in Canberra, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the regions will get 34,000 permanent migration places, up by 9,000 on last year.

Meanwhile, state-sponsored spots will lift from 11,000 to 31,000.

‘Covid is presenting us on a platter an opportunity to reform our immigration system that we will never get back, and I want us to take it,’ Ms O’Neil said.

‘The skill shortage in our country is real. And this is not a problem affecting just business, and organisations, this is a problem affecting the everyday lives of every Australians.’ 

Liberal leader Peter Dutton said the government should have made this decision ‘100 days ago’. 

The government has not yet announced any changes to the list of jobs that skilled migrants are allowed to do, or the rules around getting permanent residency.

Currently thousands of skilled workers are kicked out after a maximum of four years in Australia because their jobs do not qualify for residency. 

Australia has the second-worst skills shortage of the rich OECD nations, behind only Canada, after 600,000 migrants left during the pandemic.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Monday to mark his 100 days in power, Mr Albanese said he favoured a migration system with more pathways to permanent residency.

‘It probably wasn’t the wisest decision during the pandemic to tell everyone who was a temporary visa holder to leave,’ Mr Albanese said.

‘And to provide them with no income and no support, which means many of them have left, with ill feeling towards Australia and that spreads around.’ 

He added: ‘We’ve got a globalised labour market. And we need to enhance our reputation. Australia is a great place to live, or to visit, and we need to always bear that in mind and I think some of the actions that occurred then weren’t wise.’ 

Scott Morrison refused to include temporary migrants in the JobKeeper scheme, unlike the New Zealand government which managed to keep many of its migrant workers with wage subsidies. 

There is also a shortage of nurses (pictured). Mr Albanese will be increasing skilled migration

‘My view we need more paths to permanent migration rather than just a temporary labour,’ Mr Albanese said.

‘There’s areas and professions that we have, whether that be nurses, chefs, engineers… where we have had skills shortages not for a year, but for decades. 

‘The idea that you train someone and bring them out here for a couple of years and then go and try and find someone else to do the same job is in my view incredibly inefficient. 

‘Far better to give someone a sense of ownership and a stake in this country. 

‘We’re, with the exemption of First Nations people, all migrants, or descendants of migrants. We are a migration country.’  

Businesses around the nation are struggling to fill vacancies with the unemployment rate at 3.4 per cent, the lowest since August 1974.

Unions want a minimum salary of $90,000 for skilled migrants so local wages don’t get undercut.

But businesses groups say $60,000 is more realistic, which would allow migrants to fill roles in hospitals, schools and aged care.