Australia to reduce its intake of migrants Manila Standard 3/17/09

Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the skilled migration visa program, under which people can immigrate to Australia to fill certain occupations, would be reduced from 133,500 to 115,000 in 2009-10. The list of occupations would also be cut, Evans said.

Bricklayers, plumbers, welders, carpenters and metal fitters are among the occupations to be taken off the list as demand for skilled labor falls in the building and construction sectors. Professions such as nurses, doctors, engineers and information technology will be safe because Australia still has shortages in those fields.

But nearby New Zealand, in recession for the past year, had no plans to reduce its intake of 45,000 skilled migrants a year, Prime Minister John Key said.

“New Zealand needs skilled migrants to grow,” he told reporters.