Early today — more accurately, last night — good news came out of the state-nomination quota campaign. The media reported that Victoria, Queensland and South Australia have joined Western Australia in petitioning the federal government for more quota allocations, so this time WA isn’t alone (header image).
Both Victoria and WA had their Premiers speak publicly (image 2); in South Australia it was the relevant portfolio minister, and Queensland also made its position clear through a spokesperson (image 3).
These four are the largest states apart from NSW, and last year together they accounted for more than 57% of total state-nomination allocations.
As for NSW — well, hmmmm, they have the leverage, and that’s understandable.
Yesterday I saw that Assistant Minister to the PM Mr Gorman gave a direct response to WA’s public request (image 4), and the tone was quite firm.
- On skilled-migration matters the federal government will put national interest first. State voices will be heard and considered, but other factors must also be weighed before a decision is made.
- WA isn’t always being short-changed either — under this year’s tentative allocation WA has already been given about 17% of the quota (3,400/20,350), with the implication that they should be content. By my calculation, in 24-25 WA had 19% of the quota (5,000/26,260).
The smaller states don’t seem to have said much. Yesterday we also heard from Canberra that everything the state governments could and should do has already been done, and now it’s just a matter of waiting for the federal government’s final decision — the official website could update at any time (image 5).
So this time every major state apart from NSW has actively pushed the issue, which is a notable difference from the 23-24 financial year. That said, it also indirectly confirms that all four of these states have had their quotas cut. Can we hope for a better outcome this year — if not holding 26,260, then at least something more than the originally set 20,350?
