Key posts
- Foreign workers needed to meet PM’s jobs target
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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Foreign workers needed to meet PM’s jobs target
The number of foreign workers in Australia would need to be boosted significantly to meet Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s promise of creating 1.3 million new jobs in five years, a pledge a major employer group has described as “hollow”.
Industry groups are calling for permanent skilled migration levels to be raised and economists say the problem is not creating jobs – with vacancies at record highs and the unemployment rate tipped to fall below 4 per cent this year – but finding qualified people to fill them.
Morrison unveiled the jobs promise on Tuesday, highlighting previous announcements on funding for training positions and apprentice incentives as part of the plan to increase the country’s workforce.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar – whose members include Commonwealth Bank, Woolworths and Telstra – criticised both major political parties’ policies on apprenticeships and described Morrison’s announcement on Tuesday as “puzzling”.
Read the full story here.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning and thanks for your company.
It’s Wednesday, April 13. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know.
- Rachel Clun and Angus Thompson report that the federal government will need to significantly boost the number of foreign workers allowed into the country in order to meet Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s plan to create 1.3 million jobs over the next five years. One major employer group has labelled the PM’s plan as “puzzling”. Many businesses say the problem isn’t the need to create more jobs, but rather finding people qualified and interested enough to fill existing rolls.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison taking a selfie with a labrador yesterday. Credit:James Brickwood
- Meanwhile, Labor has backed the Coalition’s plan to create $1.5 billion worth of new port facilities in Darwin. And the Greens are promising to fight for universal access to free dental care as part of a proposed Medicare expansion.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese on the campaign trail yesterday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
- And in international news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country has entered a “new stage of terror”. It comes after (as yet unverified) reports that the Russian military has used chemical weapons in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. A Russian-backed separatist commander has denied the claims, according to Interfax.
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