Released on = October 19, 2006, 6:26 am

Press Release Author = John Bell

Industry = Government

Press Release Summary = The Minister made the comments today as she released a
series of fact sheets on skilled migration, which she said were designed to help
ensure some balance to the debate about skilled migration.

Press Release Body = "This is the harsh reality and it underscores just how
important skilled migrants are to the Australian economy. It is not overstating it
to say that skilled migrants are the engine room of the economy.

"Skilled migrants support local industry and business; they help sustain existing
Australian jobs and help create new ones; and, they help train young Australians to
provide the necessary skills for the future."

The Minister made the comments today as she released a series of fact sheets on
skilled migration, which she said were designed to help ensure some balance to the
debate about skilled migration.

"The fact that skilled migration has increased dramatically over the past decade
(fact sheet #11) reflects the strong economic growth under the Coalition
Government," the Minister said.

"As our economy has grown, so has jobs growth. At the same time, employment
vacancies for skilled workers have declined, prompting employers to look overseas
for workers to fill the shortfall (fact sheets #1 and #13).

"This is despite a significant boost to vocational training, with apprentice and
training commencements increasing and completions increasing dramatically in the
past decade (fact sheet #3).

"The fact sheets also highlight how skilled migration helped raise the living
standards of all Australians, with modelling showing that the current level of
skilled migration is expected to improve the standard of living by $850 per person
by the year 2021 (fact sheet #7).

"This strong results reflects the quality of skilled migrants being selected, with
today\'s migrants doing much better in securing employment than those of a decade ago
(fact sheet #8)."

The Minister said this series of fact sheets focused on permanent skilled migration.
A future series would focus on the importance of temporary skilled migrants, many of
whom move from temporary to permanent skilled migration after having a taste of
Australia (fact sheet #16).

The Fact Sheets are available electronically from the Minister\'s media releases
section of the department\'s website.

Source: Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Amanda Vanstone Press
Release at http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media_releases/media06/v06208.htm
September 22, 2006

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