Queensland Jobs for Queenslanders First: Queensland Unions to front Skilled Migration Inquiry

Queensland Unions will appear before the Inquiry into the Value of Skilled Migration to Australia in Brisbane on Monday, calling for a migration system that fills genuine skills shortages, protects migrant workers from exploitation and works alongside greater investment in training Queenslanders.

Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Jacqueline King will give evidence to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration at 10:20am, highlighting the important contribution skilled migrant workers make to Queensland’s workforce and communities. Skilled migrant workers are already filling critical roles across Queensland, including in healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, construction and the trades, helping keep essential services running and regional communities strong.

But Queensland Unions will warn that skilled migration cannot become a substitute for investing in the local workforce, particularly as Queensland faces significant workforce shortages in the lead-up to Brisbane 2032.

Queensland is facing a forecast construction workforce shortfall ahead of the Games and will need an additional 46,000 health workers by 2032.^[1]

At the same time, the Crisafulli Government has abolished the 15 per cent training requirement for apprentices, trainees and workforce training on major Queensland Government construction projects.^[2]

Queensland should be creating more opportunities for local workers to gain the skills needed for the jobs of the future through TAFE, apprenticeships, training and secure employment pathways, while using skilled migration to address genuine shortages that cannot be met locally.

The QCU will also oppose a proposal from Master Builders Australia for a priority migration pathway for construction apprentices.

Bringing migrant workers to Queensland as apprentices, rather than qualified tradespeople, risks displacing apprenticeship opportunities for young Queenslanders and other local jobseekers while creating a new group of workers particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

Queensland Unions warn this combination of low apprentice wages and employer-sponsored visa dependence could make it harder for migrant workers to speak up about underpayment, unsafe work, poor training or other exploitation.

The QCU will also use Monday’s hearing to highlight the experiences of migrant workers already facing exploitation in Queensland.

The QCU’s submission to the Inquiry includes cases of skilled migrant workers experiencing underpayment, unsafe work, bullying, discrimination and employers using promises of sponsorship or permanent residency to exert control over workers.

Queensland Unions say skilled migration has an important role to play in Queensland’s future, but it must be part of a workforce system that invests in skills and training while guaranteeing fair pay, safe work and respect for every worker, no matter where they come from.

Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Jacqueline King said:

“Queensland’s future will be built by workers from many different backgrounds, and every one of those workers deserves fair pay, safe work and respect.

“Skilled migration has an important role to play in Queensland’s future, but it cannot be used as a shortcut around training Queenslanders or improving wages and conditions to attract workers into the jobs we desperately need filled.

“The Crisafulli Government cannot cry poor about skills shortages while cutting training requirements on major government projects. If we know we need thousands more skilled workers ahead of 2032, we should be training more Queenslanders now.

"We already know what happens when too much power sits with an employer. Through Queensland Migrant WorkWise, we have heard from workers who were underpaid, bullied, pressured into unsafe work and kept hanging on promises of sponsorship or permanent residency. No worker should have to choose between speaking up about an unsafe job and staying in Australia.

ENDS

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