Key Points
- Albanese has criticised Scott Morrison for telling temporary visa holders to go home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Mr Albanese said the comments left many “with ill feeling towards Australia”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticised his predecessor Scott Morrison for telling temporary visa holders to go home during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the comments left many “with ill feeling towards Australia”.
In April 2020, amid concerns that international students and other visitor visa holders were being left without government support, Mr Morrison said Australia had to focus on its own citizens.
“As much as it's lovely to have visitors to Australia in good times, at times like this, if you are a visitor in this country, it is time … to make your way home,” the then-prime minister said, adding visitors could get support from their home countries."
"For those backpackers in Australia who are nurses or doctors, or have other critical skills that can really help us during this crisis, then there will be opportunities for them.
"But our focus and our priority is on supporting Australians and Australian residents with the economic supports that are available," Mr Morrison said.
Mr Albanese did not mention Mr Morrison directly, but said that wasn't a good move, especially as the country is now facing a drastic skills and worker shortage as a result of the pandemic.
“It probably wasn't the wisest decision during the pandemic to tell everyone who was a temporary visa holder to leave, and to provide them with no income and no support, which means many of them have left, with ill feeling towards Australia and that spreads around,” the prime minister told the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday.
“We've got a globalised labour market, and we need to enhance our reputation.
“Australia is a great place to live or to visit, and we need to always bear that in mind, and I think some of the actions that occurred then weren't wise.”
Mr Albanese made the comments in response to a question about whether he would lift the annual migration intake from 160,000 as requested by the business community.
There has been speculation the government could use its forthcoming jobs and skills summit, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday and end on Friday, to increase the intake to 200,000.
The prime minister would not commit to any new figures during his address but said the issue was “not just about numbers”, and the country must look beyond temporary migration to fill skills shortage gaps.
He said there should be more paths to allowing permanent migration for foreign workers in Australia in critical fields such as nursing, hospitality and engineering.
“We need more paths to permanent migration rather than just temporary labour.
“There's areas and professions … where we have had skills shortages not for a year, but for decades.
“The idea that you train someone and bring them out here for a couple of years and then go and try and find someone else to do the same job is, in my view, incredibly inefficient.
“Far better to give someone a sense of ownership and a stake in this country.”
But he stressed this must balance the need to allow Australians to fill skills gaps first.
