McGowan government invites foreign workers to compete with local unemployed
The opening of State migration means West Australian’s will face fierce competition for job vacancies. The McGowan government has made available over 120 occupations for temporary foreign students/migrants. The Premier also decided to keep Perth eligible for foreign regional visa holders to compete in the City’s labour market.
This a callous decision by the Labor government at a time of high youth unemployment. There is over 90,000 West Aussies looking for a job and the youth unemployment rate is at 13.1% (see Table’s 1 and 2 below)
Table 1: Unemployment Western Australia December 2020, seasonally adjusted
| Month | Labour force total (million) | Official total unemployed (000’s) | Official unemployment rate |
| Dec -2020 | 1471.8 | 91.9 | 6.2% |
| Economic reasons zero hours, (000’s) | Official unemployed plus zero hours (000’s) | Unemployment plus zero hours (effective rate) | |
| Dec-2020 | 8.900 | 100.80 | 6.8% |
(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021)
Australian Labour force data for December 2020 reveals significant challenges for the Morrison government
The Morrison Government will be pleased unemployment decreased in Dec to 6.6%. But that’s about it with the good news.
ABS underemployment data reveal 1.6 million Australian’s are available and would prefer to work more hours. Plus 912,000 people with no job at all (over 2.5 million underutilised workers).
Table 2: Youth unemployment (15-24) Western Australian December 2020, original
| Month | Labour force total (000’S) | Official total unemployed (000’s) | Official unemployment rate |
| Dec-2020 | 224.229 | 29.269 | 13.1% |
| Temporarily stood down (000’s) | Official unemployed plus stood down (000’s) | Unemployment plus stood down (effective rate) | |
| March – Dec 2020 | 8.190 | 37.459 | 16.7% |
(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021)
