Abbott Says Immigration Not The Solution To Worker Shortage

Over the years, many Australian skilled visa holders have arrived into the country to work. Indeed, Australia has long been considered as one of the best places to work in the world. And the land down under is itself very welcoming of the arrival of these foreign workers.

You see, Australia is, in fact, very much in demand of immigrant labor to fuel its economic growth. This is mainly because its relatively small population (some 22 million as of the last census) is not able to sustain the current level of economic development in the country. And experts said that this rate is likely to grow even more in the years to come.

That is why the country needs to get more and more foreign workers moving in. They are the ones that will be able to sustain the country's economic development, as well as further increase it. However, some groups are arguing that the current dependence on immigrants workers for economic development might not be that good for the country. In the long run.

One of the people urging policy makers to rethink their priorities with regards to immigrant labor is Tony Abbott. In fact, Abbott made this one a central point of discussion when he went head to head with current Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Labor Party in the elections held last month. And though Abbott lost, he said that he and the Liberal Party will still be pushing for this issue.

According to Abbott, the country can't forever depend on foreign labor to sustain it. He added that with the current jobs shortages that the country is experiencing, it is unlikely that the current influx of immigrants will be able to solve it. He emphasizes that, in order to better handle the situation, it is necessary that training the local population is far more important in order for them to fill up the shortages.

But, Abbott pointed out that he is not against immigration altogether. He said that immigration will still be needed in the near future in order to maintain the stability of the of the country's economy. However, he said that there is still a great need to significantly cut down one the number of immigration intakes in order to open up more opportunities for local labor.

Abbott has said that, despite losing to Labor, his party will still continue to push for these changes. He is also optimistic that the government will be willing to take this into account.