Highlights:
- Inquiry was set up in August last year to examine why regional Australia had attracted lesser migrants.
- The committed has tabled a short report in parliament with some observations but no recommendations.
- Australia is expecting to record a significant drop in net migration levels due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"This is a slightly different enquiry report to other enquiry reports, Chair of the Committee Julian Leeser MP said.
"We decided to suspend the enquiry because the purpose of the inquiry was to look at how we encourage migrants to go to and remain in regional Australia and given that we've basically suspended the migration programme as a result of Covid-19."
"I think and given that the economic situation in Australia is changed and as a result of it, too, that some of the settings and things that we were looking at previously may not exist for the foreseeable future the relevant."
Listen to the full interview with Mr Julian Leeser:
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'We are making it too difficult to employ migrants in regional Australia', says chair of Joint Standing Committee on Migration
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A parliamentary inquiry was set up in August last year to examine why regional Australia had attracted less than 20 per cent of overseas arrivals as concerns about regional Australia's failure to attract more migrants to settle outside of major cities had been raised by various migration advocates.
The joint standing committee on migration was supposed to examine migrant settlement strategies and migrations settings in regional Australia.
The committee has tabled a short report in parliament highlighting some of the recurrent issues raised both in submissions and evidence to the committee.
Member for Berowra Julian Leeser during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House, in Canberra, Thursday, 4 April 2019. Source: AAP Image/Sam Mooy
Mr Leeser agrees that the present conditions make it difficult to employ migrants in regional Australia due to a range of different factors.
"Particularly the high cost of employing migrants made more expensive by things like the occupation list which often didn't keep pace with what was happening in the community and didn't necessarily reflect the skill shortages," he said.
Another issue highlighted in the report as an outcome is the temporary skilled migration income threshold.
Source: SBS
According to the to Department of Home Affairs, the income threshold is designed to ensure that "overseas workers are paid no less than an Australian worker would if they did the same job in the same location."
This threshold is set at $53,900, and to qualify for a skilled visa, an employer must demonstrate that an overseas worker will be paid a salary higher than the threshold income.
"We heard that in regional areas there were some skilled jobs have salaries below $53,900, and then if you wanted to bring somebody from overseas to do that job you would have to pay at least 53,900," said Mr Leeser.
Abul Rizvi, former Deputy Secretary in the Department of Immigration, says it is disappointing that there are no actual recommendations because the urgency of issues facing regional Australia is significant and deserving of some genuine action.
Sheep move across the barren grazing land of sheep farmer Wayne Smith's property near Pooncarie, Thursday, February 14, 2019. Source: AAP Image/Dean Lewins
However, Mr Rizvi, who gave evidence before the committee, agrees that the report makes several good points about the issues facing regional Australia and the concerns about the current arrangements in terms of visas for regional Australia.
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Issues highlighted in the report include Skilling Australia Fund levy, Designated Area Migration Agreements, Labour Market Testing, New regional visas, Settlement Services and Housing.
Mr Leeser says this report can be a starting point for the government.
"I think our report will be a starting point no more than a starting point for government to relook at these issues at the time when we return to a period where we have a full of migration programme and people are reconsidering this issue for regional communities."
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Australia's overseas migration intake is expected to shrink by more than 85 per cent on 2018-19 levels next financial year due to widespread travel bans brought on by the coronavirus.
With international border closures expected to be in place for at least another three to four months, the federal government expects net migration to fall to just 36,000 in 2020-21 - the lowest number in more than 40 years.
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