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One of the state’s largest builders says home builds will keep slipping behind targets if the federal government doesn’t resolve delays to its overseas skilled workers visa program.
Summit Homes Group general manager Cameron Lade said the company had 162 workers in the Philippines ready to work in WA, but they were stuck in limbo thanks to unexplained delays to their visa applications.
“We’ve been promised that it’s normally a six-month approval process…72 of those [162] are eight months and over,” he said.
“The challenge for us is that the silence is quite deafening because we’re not getting any feedback.”
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WA’s home building figures were improving but have stagnated recently, with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing 2270 new homes were approved in July, 0.3 per cent lower than June but 21.5 per cent higher than July last year.
Migration continues to be a hot-button issue as a resurgent Pauline Hanson and One Nation blame housing, health and education woes on the migrant population boom of the past five years.
Labor continues to feel the heat from One Nation and has promised changes to immigration levels.
Last month the AFR reported that Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke issued a directive to his department on July 24 to deprioritise visa applications from abroad and instead focus on processing applications for people already in the country.
Lade said his company had 2000 home builds on the books and planned to start another 2000 homes next year, but they could not do it without help from overseas workers.
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“In round figures, one additional person will help us build two homes a year,” he said.
“It’s really holding back the outcomes for our customers.”
Lade said the company had spent about $6 million on visa applications and was refurbishing accommodation to house the workers.
He said he raised the issue with Treasurer Jim Chalmers during the federal cabinet visit to WA last week but was losing hope.
“I guess we just have lost confidence in being able to get any response from the federal government because no one knows why,” he said.
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“All the relevant state government ministers are aware of the situation, and my understanding is that they are working behind the scenes.”
“We understand there’s a broader immigration conversation, but to be really frank about it, why can’t we carve out overseas skilled workers as a separate conversation?
“Because ultimately, we have a housing shortage, we have a labour shortage, so we’re not clear how the federal government want us to build more homes.”
Not responding to Summit’s plight directly, Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said he appreciated the concerns from the construction sector, but applications were assessed in the order they were received, and they needed to be thorough.
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“That involves some back and forth between the applicant and the department to provide the correct information, like skills accreditation and English language assessment, which can slow down a visa application,” he said.
“We get a lot of applications for visas that are incomplete, where someone doesn’t provide their English language certificate. They don’t provide their skills accreditation. They might not have provided their health check.
“Those officials will go back to the applicant and make sure that all that information is supplied before the visa can be approved.
“That slows down many visa applications.”
WA Skills and TAFE Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said visa settings were a matter for the federal government, but the skilled worker shortage was a problem of a growing economy.
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She said she was seeking more information about the visa delays.
“We need people to build houses for West Australians. That’s why we’ve added seven more free residential construction courses to fee-free TAFE,” she said.
“Those settings are for the federal government. Obviously, we want to make sure that the builders in WA have the workforce they need to build the houses for West Australians to live in.”
Summit Homes roof plumber Anthony Sibayan began work in Perth in March 2024 under the skilled workers visa.
He said his friends in the Phillipines contacted him regularly for updates on their visas.
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He said he hoped the federal government continued to allow workers in from his home country.
“We’re still waiting for your government to decide on our situation as migrants, because if your government don’t like us to work here or anything like that, we don’t have any control of that,” he said.
“We’re just still hoping and praying that hopefully the Australian government will continue giving us a privilege and opportunity to work here.”
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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political reporter and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Prize for best political journalism.Connect via X or email.AdvertisementAdvertisement