Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

From the early work of this committee, I took a keen interest. I've got to say, the member for Berowra was open to some suggestions. Indeed, before the inquiry was concluded on account of, as I understand it, the impact of COVID-19 on their efforts, the committee visited my electorate. I was really pleased to join the committee in the work they did in my electorate, including a couple of visits. I want to speak to that because it talks a bit about the challenge of attracting migrants to regional Australia. But, before I come to that challenge, could I dispel a myth. I chair the Select Committee on Regional Australia—a select committee of the House of Representatives that the Prime Minister stood up. One of the things we've been asked to consider closely is the future of regional Australia and the policy measures that could be implemented to ensure we make the most of regional Australia. Some evidence that's come to hand in that work will assist me in dealing with and dispelling a myth. There are many myths when it comes to regional Australia, including that, if you move back to regional Australia or live in regional Australia, you have lost in some way. There are other myths around inadequate services and things. But the myth I want to speak to right now is the myth that what we're seeing in Australia is migration away from regional communities.

The Regional Australia Institute commissioned a serious body of work on this topic. It assessed census data from 2011 and compared it with census data in 2016. What it confirmed was there is net migration away from capital cities in Australia. That didn't come as news to me, as someone who lives in a regional community—proudly so—but it certainly came as news to many people in Australia. Indeed, the number is 65,000. So 65,000 Australians moved from capital cities to regional communities on a net basis during that period. I don't know what the figures are today but I hasten to suggest to you that that trend is accelerating. I feel, anecdotally, it is accelerating but I can assure you, post-COVID, and what I've seen in regional communities, it certainly has its afterburners on. I think we need to be ready for, as part of this new normal, a regional Australia which is more populated, which I think is a fantastic thing.

One of the pull factors in that migration, which I should point out precedes COVID, is the availability of jobs. There are parts of my electorate, even today, notwithstanding the impact of a one-in-100 year global pandemic, that are at full employment. I received a phone call today from one of the abattoir operators. Their challenge right now in the middle of a global pandemic in my electorate is to find sufficient accommodation for workers. That's a great position to be in. It speaks to the nature of the COVID-19 challenge, the need for food security and these things. But this is a challenge for regional Australia and it's one that preceded COVID-19.

Quite frankly, we have two ways of solving this problem. We either encourage Australians to move from, what I think are, crowded and in some cases unliveable cities into regions where jobs exist, where we have low costs of living, where there are great lifestyle opportunities. Alternatively or perhaps additionally, we seek to deal with that skills, job and labour shortage by encouraging migration into regional Australia. I'm passionate about this because the fact is, if my father and mother, who both travelled as migrants to Australia separately—in my father's case by himself, in my mother's case by decision of her parents—hadn't migrated to regional Australia, I simply wouldn't have been here. I wouldn't have had the great privilege of representing my community in this place and I wouldn't have won the great lottery that it is to be an Australian citizen in the 40 or so years that I've enjoyed that privilege. This opportunity is laid out for very many Australians or soon-to-be-Australians, and I think we need to take this opportunity.

I spoke earlier about the committee spending some time in my electorate and visiting some facilities. Costa Mushrooms at Murray Bridge, which, as the name would suggest, produces mushrooms on an industrial scale. It's an amazing facility. It is very labour intensive. At this stage, a lot of their labour needs are met by international students who are working in accordance with their visas. There's a real opportunity for the Murraylands community right there as one example of a more permanent workforce more connected to that community, instead of, if you like, international students travelling up from Adelaide, undertaking that necessary employment and returning to Adelaide.

We spent time at Holla-Fresh at Tantanoola in the south-east of South Australia. If you've eaten a fresh herb from Woolworths, it has come from this facility. A shout out to the Karen and Karenni who have made Mount Gambier in the south-east their home in large numbers. They are incredibly well received in my community and—I have to tell you—the feedback we get from the proprietors at Holla-Fresh is they would love to see more of those Karen and Karenni individuals because they're so employable and are great people to be around.

But I want to speak principally about Metro Bakery and Cafe, which happens to be right next to my electorate office. The committee heard really strong evidence that skilled migrants create jobs for Australians. This is important in this debate. This isn't a choice between a foreign migrant and an Australian worker. When we visited Metro Bakery and Cafe, we saw two skilled pastry chefs from the Philippines who had filled a job that was available at that facility that no appropriately skilled Australian was willing to fill. The great news from that point on is that these same two migrants have now trained no fewer than five apprentices in that craft, which has allowed that business to expand. Not only have they trained those five apprentices, but the business now employs 45 people. It's a great story and one that I'm really pleased to speak to.

The member for Hunter will follow me and he will no doubt, as he's indicated, criticise the committee for failing to finalise its work in relation to this body of work. I can understand the decisions that have been taken by the committee, because, as we work through this global pandemic, as we deal with what will become the new normal, the challenges will, I think it is fair to say, need to be looked at afresh, particularly as it relates to migration into regional Australia and indeed migration generally. It's a little artificial to be considering these things right now when, in fact, it is unlawful to travel to this country as a foreigner on a visa or otherwise.

I'm pleased that this issue has been considered. I'm incredibly grateful that the member for Berowra brought his committee to my electorate. It was great to participate in that in that limited way. I hope that this work can be considered afresh at an appropriate time.

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