State pushes for more skilled migrants

The State Government wants Canberra to relax several key immigration rules to help WA fill an expected shortage of up to 200,000 skilled workers over the next 10 years.
Training and Workforce Development Minister Peter Collier has urged Federal Immigration Minister Chris Bowen to reclassify Perth as a regional area for immigration so WA could better access skilled and semi-skilled workers from overseas.
Reclassification of Perth would allow city employers to access the Federal regional sponsored migration scheme, a program aimed at assisting the economic development of regional towns by attracting migrants to fill jobs where local workers are not available.
Mr Collier lobbied for a big expansion of the occupations that can be filled by workers on temporary 457 visas.
Occupations identified as a priority for WA that are not on the 457 visa list include teachers' aides, childcare workers, hospital orderlies, bar attendants, waiters, bookkeepers, earthmoving plant and excavator operators and bus, taxi and train drivers.
Mr Collier also wants the minimum English language test for 457 workers lowered to its previous level after advice from industry that many skilled workers from non-English countries were unnecessarily disqualified.
Mr Collier's appeal was couched in the context of an estimated $225 billion of resources and infrastructure projects under way or in the pipeline and Government and private forecasts that put the number of skilled workers needed at between 150,000 and 210,000 between 2017 and 2020.
He was optimistic that the Federal Government would adopt many or all of the changes, saying Mr Bowen appeared to understand the size of the challenge WA faced, which was unique in Australia. "I need to emphasise that our first priority is that all West Australians who want to work are in work," Mr Collier said.
"But we are very conservatively looking down the barrel of being up to 150,000 workers short by 2017."
Among other changes, he is seeking the relaxation of rules concerning working holidays, student visas, English language and the points test in the skilled migration program.
Mr Collier also wants the threshold value for major projects eligible for so-called enterprise migration agreements to be lowered.

Source:http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/9016847/state-pushes-for-more-skilled-migrants/