Ten Pound Pom migrant scheme proposed for Australian mines
by Harleen Kaur - April 30, 2010
Australia, 30th April: As per the recommendations by a leading Australian demographer, ten pound Pom migrant scheme should be initiated by Australian government to encourage increased number of workers to work in Western Australia.
The proposal by Professor Peter McDonald says being a booming economy, Western Australia is witnessing a high demand for skilled workers presently. However, no too many Australian citizens are ready to relocate and take jobs in Western Australia.
Hence, herein lies the important role of Australian immigration to fill the gaps to balance the demand and supply of the labor workforce in Western Australia.
As per the findings by Professor McDonald, only a few Australians are ready to move to WA while the number of immigrants from different nations in WA is stated comparatively quite high.
In the year 2008-09, a total of 45,000 immigrants arrived in WA while the number of Australians having moved from other states to WA was just 5000. So, it can be said that just one out of every 10 migrants to Western Australia were found to be Australian natives.
Prof. McDonald warned that the reluctance to move to WA was not only among Australians already on jobs, even those without any jobs in Australia did not show any inclination to relocate to WA. These were, unmistakably, the big barriers to reducing the high rates of joblessness even at a time when other regions in Australia were witnessing strong economic development.
Although, the provision of subsidies of $5000 is available for unemployed in Australia, however, it’s not accessed widely. Moreover, such subsidies are not provided to those already on jobs in Australia.
Hence, Professor McDonald urged for stronger interventions to address the lack of workforce mobility in the population of Australia. He suggested as what may be termed as a 21st century version of ten pound Pom scheme to encourage and invite increased number of people to take up jobs in Western Australia.
Since nearly 9 percent of men in the age group of 25-55 were not employed and many were on disability pensions, he strongly urged that such scheme was needed to solve the problem of non-participation of working age Australians
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