New data has shown a sharp increase in the number of skilled migrants coming into Australia since Labor took power in late 2007.
According to research by immigration consultant Bob Kinnaird of RT Kinnaird & Associates, the number of 457 visas approved during April and May jumped to 6130 per month. That compares with the last six months of the Howard government, when an average of 4625 visas was approved per month.
The sharp increase comes after Immigration Minister Chris Evans ordered his department to clear a backlog of 457 applications by 30 June.
The sharp rise in approvals will please business groups. While Kinnaird says accurate information about which industries have benefited most is proving difficult to find, he says the health sector and heavy industries appear to have fared well. “There has certainly been a big increase in manufacturing and construction and to a lesser extent mining,” he says.
But Kinnaird is worried that the surge in approvals has occurred despite problems with the 457 visa system, particularly low pay rates. “It’s possible to get a 457 visa improved at a salary that undercuts local rates,” Kinnaird says. “The Government is pumping these visas through a greatly increased rate without actually fixing the problems.”
But despite the increase in 457 visa approvals, Charles Cameron, policy adviser at labour-hire sector lobby group the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association, says his members are still struggling to get approved under the 457 process.
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