Australia and New Zealand Immigration News

The Western Australian government is trying its best to attract overseas skilled workers in an attempt to deal with labour shortages in its mining sector.

Western Australian Training and Workforce Development Minister Peter Collier announced a WA workforce development plan to address these issues. One of the problems is finding skilled labour for the expected $220 billion worth of natural resource-related projects.

A new study finds that skilled migrants are increasingly attracted to Wellington, New Zealand. New Zealand is an increasingly popular destination for people looking to live and work abroad.

The study, commissioned by the Department of Labour, found that migrants who came to Wellington chose the city for its beauty, compactness, and job opportunities. They also liked Wellington's education system.

Australia's mining industry is pushing for more immigration as unemployment rates fall across the country. They state that more skilled immigration is crucial to support the planned $140 billion in mining-related projects located mostly in northern Australia.

Sam Walsh, Rio Tinto iron ore executive director, told The Australian that the industry has to be careful not to create a situation where tradespeople across many occupations all head north at once to fill labour shortages.

Australia's rate of net immigration continues to fall as more people leave Australia and fewer people arrive.

The number of permanent and long-term arrivals still outnumbers departures. However immigration numbers fell to 210,400 people this year, compared to 324,700 the previous year.

In October, there were only 9,370 immigrants who settled in Australia, the lowest since March of 2004.

The downturn in immigration could have dire consequences for Australia's economy as it heads into another boom.

If you would like to immigrate to Australia, the Australian Capital Territory may be interested in nominating you for a skilled independent migration visa under the Australian Skilled Sponsored Visa (Subclass 176) or the Skilled Sponsored Residence Visa (Subclass 886).

The Association of Mining and Exploration (AMEC) says that the Australian Government needs to change its skilled immigration policy or risk losing smaller projects related to the mining industry, according to Australian news outlet ABC News.

Under new enterprise migration agreements, only projects worth more than $10 billion will have faster and easier access to foreign workers. However, AMEC chief executive Simon Bennison says that this threshold is too high.