Big business fears 'war for talent' as politicians clash over immigration

Mining, business leaders warn immigration changes could discourage skilled migrant workers In short: Business and mining groups are resisting a push to curb migration, warning skilled workers are critical to the health of the economy. Australian Industry Group boss Innes Willox says Australia is in a "war for talent" and needed to be "responsible but as welcoming as possible". What's next? Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is expected to unveil cuts to the government's immigration program after initially cancelling a speech on the topic earlier this month. Powerful business and mining groups are resisting a push across the political spectrum to slash migration, warning Australia needs a steady flow of workers to deliver on a pipeline of projects and keep the economy moving. The government is poised to cut migration and is considering forcing skilled migrants' families to be processed offshore, while the shadow housing minister has backed "modest" cuts focused on backpackers and international students. It was later revealed his cabinet colleague colleagues had not been consulted on the proposal. One Nation's leader Pauline Hanson said earlier this month she does "not care" what effect sweeping migration cuts would have on businesses, sticking with the party's line to significantly cut the intake to give Australia a "breather". Australian Industry Group boss Innes Willox said he was "enormously concerned" about suggestions the government or other parties were considering tinkering with migration in a way which would discourage workers from coming to Australia. "We are in a global war for talent, and we need to be as responsible but as welcoming as possible,"he said. He said a number of big projects including the Olympics build in Queensland would not get done without skilled migrant labour, warning the immigration system must have "integrity and value". "That's for the migrant, the employer, their family, and the economy as a whole," he said. Minerals Council boss Tania Constable said her members needed about 40,000 new migrant workers over the next three years to resource existing and approved projects. She said while she supported the goal of securing services and housing to meet the needs of Australians, migrant workers were critical to keeping the economy going. "Across the board, we have a shortage," she said. "We need those workers, and we need them pretty quickly." Migrant workers indispensable to mining sector Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Aaron Morey said the mining sector was already struggling to source workers and could not afford to "go backwards". "Migrant workers are more important to the WA economy than they are to any other economy in the country," he said. "The important thing for us is that we don't go backwards. It would make a difficult situation even harder to manage." Ms Constable said the number of migrant workers in the minerals sector had more than doubled since 2021, but the industry was still experiencing shortages. The government's current permanent migration intake is 185,000 places, about 70 per cent of which are skilled workers, with the majority of the remainder their families. The Coalition has not released its proposed migration numbers aside from a promise to tie it to housing completions. In an interview last week, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she wants to reduce the 185,000 permanent migration number to 130,000. The party has not nominated which visa streams would be subject to its 130,000 target, except for 75,000 people they said are in Australia illegally. Mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who owns Hancock Industries in WA, has thrown her support behind One Nation. Ms Constable said while she could not comment on the specific numbers put forward by the party, she would continue to advocate for all parties to "get the balance right". "We will ensure that we present of all the policy options that we think are right for our industry … and we will do that without prejudice and without favour," she said. Mr Morey said Mrs Rinehart's support of One Nation did not impact the industry's ability to criticise certain policies. "Absolutely not," he said. "Irrespective of which party and political persuasion, what is important to maintain our sector is to ideally increase and at least maintain the number of skilled migration." Government slows intake of working holidays visas Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke yesterday confirmed the government had quietly slowed the intake of working holiday visa applications but did not explain why. "They are still being processed, but they are being processed more slowly than they were previously," he said. Mr Willox said temporary workers, including those on working holiday visas, were a "central" part of the Australian workforce particularly in regional communities and agriculture. "They play really important gap filler role in the economy, and it shouldn't be underestimated," he said. "Business don't need permanent labour; they need temporary labour to fill a need and that is where temporary workers play a really important role." Mr Burke said the primary visas used in the agricultural industry were the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme visa, which is a scheme for workers from the Pacific and Timor-Leste. "One of the things that happened when we started to improve the worker protections on PALM was, not overwhelmingly, but some of the worst operators said if we've got to have standards to PALM workers, we will just switch to backpackers. "And that is not the way this system is meant to work."