The federal government’s decision to lift Australia’s permanent migrant intake from 160,000 to 195,000 this financial year, which it announced at the jobs summit, has been applauded by business leaders and premiers.
But by itself, lifting migration will do little to fill widespread skills shortages, partly because three in every four migrants granted permanent visas are already in Australia.
Even if the larger intake succeeds in bringing in more people from overseas, more migrants will mean a bigger economy, which will itself increase the demand for workers. And it will mean having to build more homes.
