News Corp Senior Writer Patrick Carlyon says far fewer skilled tradespeople are entering Australia than many people believe.
“The skilled migrant program takes in something like 480 occupations in theory, and we like to think that if we’re getting skilled workers, they’re going to be electricians or plumbers or carpenters, people who are going to build stuff,” Mr Carlyon told Sky News host James Morrow.
“The numbers are nowhere near what we thought they were … less than half of those who come in on a skilled migrant visa are actually skilled workers.
“A lot of them aren’t tradies; we need people to build stuff.
“This is very illuminating.”
