Mallee MP Andrew Broad is calling for more migrants to move to regional Australia.
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He said while he favours employment for Australian’s first, there are skill shortages in regional towns.
“We need more doctors, nurses, horticulturalists, abattoirs and other occupations in regions,” he said.
He believes there needs to requirements of skilled migrants obtaining a visa to work in Australia.
“It should be a requirement for skilled migrants to work in a regional town first.”
In the Northern Grampians shire there were 167.2 new settler arrivals per 100,000 population, according to the latest data from the Victorian government. This is in comparison to 1,415.1 new settler arrivals per 100,000 population in Victoria.
The top countries for overseas birth in the Northern Grampians shire, according to data from the Victoria government, is the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Netherlands, Philippines and Germany.
6.8 per cent of the population in the Northern Grampians was born overseas, according to data from the Victorian government.
The population of people born overseas for Ararat is higher at 9.2 per cent and Horsham is lower at 6 per cent.
MP Broad said to have more skilled migrants in regional towns, infrastructure needs to improve.
“We need to improve housing, transport, language classes and so on,” he said.
“A passenger rail service in Stawell would benefit that.”