Frank wrote on Jul 8
th, 2026 at 5:01pm:
'Misleadingly named': Labor's skilled workforce program exposed as primary workers make up less than half of approvals
Labor's skilled migration program has been exposed, after fresh data found that less than half of people approved for skilled working visas were primary applicants who met the program’s requirements.
As one of Labor’s most prominent political strategists, Kos Samaras, pointed out this week, in Victoria “
birthplace has become one of the sharpest predictors of the Labor vote”.“Among Australian-born voters, Labor sits on 24 (per cent). Among voters born overseas, it’s 35. That 11-point gap is Labor’s firewall. Note, that’s 35 with the UK included, which means it’s
higher within non-English-speaking background cohorts,” he explained.
It’s no wonder the Premier boasted of how proud she was that Victoria is home to the largest Indian diaspora in the country, at 370,000 strong. Last September she spent a week in China reportedly to demonstrate her solidarity with the similarly electorally powerful Chinese community.
“Economically, we need immigration. We need the skills,” Immigration Minister Tony Burke said in May, while extolling the nation’s “well-targeted immigration program”. It turns out this oft-repeated claim has been a gigantic misconception for years.
Of 2.4 million permanent visas issued between the 2012 and 2025 financial years,
fewer than 779,000 (32 per cent) were actually allocated to skilled migrants, according to new Institute of Public Affairs research, published this week.
That’s because around half of the so-called “skilled” intake – which is around two-thirds of the total – is made up of the spouses, partners and children of the skilled immigrants themselves. In other words, the vast bulk of immigrants coming to Australia were
never chosen for their skills beyond choosing dependency wisely.The idea bureaucrats in Canberra can determine “shortages” of various occupations at all let alone in a timely manner is ludicrous.
Auctioneers are on the current immigration “skilled occupation” list, while home building trades are not, despite the supposed housing supply crisis. Only half of skilled immigrants were still working in the occupation they nominated one year after they applied for their visa, according to 2024 Grattan Institute research.The greatest mystery is why this economically damaging system built on the myth of skills has carried on for so long. Housing costs have increased and the quality of university education has eroded significantly. Polls show large majorities of Australians want a major reduction in immigration numbers.
To borrow from outgoing British Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer,
native-born Australians, especially in the capital cities, appear to feel increasingly like strangers in their own country at the same time as record inflation saps their purchasing power.Adam Creighton
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