Labor’s Tim Ayres backs ‘balanced’ immigration as Albanese preaches economic resilience
The industry minister has described the push for cuts to immigration as “divorced from reality” as businesses in regional areas increasingly fear skills shortages.
Federal industry minister Tim Ayres has attacked the Coalition and One Nation’s calls for large reductions in migration as “divorced from reality” as the Albanese government shifts its narrative on the economy from productivity to resilience.
In an exclusive interview with Capital Brief ahead of the budget later this month Ayres warned workforce shortages in areas like construction and engineering risk holding back the government’s Future Made in Australia agenda, and called on industry to lift its effort to attract young Australians into apprenticeships.
As conservative political parties continue to attack “mass migration” as a threat to Australian jobs and housing, Ayres said the Future Made in Australia program, aimed at lifting local capacity in areas of competitive advantage and increasing national economic resilience, was successfully creating jobs and supporting the growth of new minerals processing and manufacturing industries.
But he conceded there was a risk that progress could be held back by skills shortages in areas like science, engineering and construction, shortages which could be worsened by large migration cuts.
