Australian treasurer Wayne Swan says first train new miners, then look to skilled migration
Wayne Swan has rejected calls for a large boost to permanent migration. Instead, he claims that his budget will create 500,000 new jobs and drive unemployment to 4.5 per cent. Short-term shortages in the mining and other industries can be met through temporary skilled migration, he argues, but permanent skilled migration is not the way to go.
"I don't see the need for a dramatic increase in permanent skilled migration," Mr Swan told The Courier-Mail. "I think what we have to do in the first instance is train Australians."
