"Without a fit-for-purpose skilled migration program key parts of our economy would simply grind to a halt, worsening the decline in living standards we currently face," said Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association, Australian Industry Group.
"It is right that the migration program is regularly scrutinised and adjusted according to economic and social circumstances and needs.
"The program should not be 'set and forget' but needs to be transparent, efficient and function well for businesses who need to access skills, labour and expertise that they cannot obtain locally.
"We welcome today's clarity around what the migration program will look like in the near future. The Government needs to end the current migration pause as soon as possible because it is clearly hurting the capacity of business across the board to meet and bid for contracts and deliver for customers, including the broader community.
"As the net overseas migration target has now been reduced, businesses will reasonably expect a significant and immediate improvement in offshore and onshore processing times for skilled migration pathways.
"The change announced around student visas and families fixes a loophole that needed to close, however the changes to working holiday-makers will create significant stress in regional areas in agriculture and horticulture as they meet seasonal employment demands.
"Today's announcement gives clarity for the immediate future but we can't afford migration to become a political race to the bottom. The reality is that without legislative agreement, there is a high likelihood of future upheaval impacting the program and our key economic settings.
"It is critical that demand signals remain a key part of our migration system, to ensure it aligns to our pressing and profound skills needs. These systems have not functioned well in the past, and now is the time to get our skilled migration pathways right.
"We currently have real labour and skills shortages impacting our ability to deliver national objectives such as housing construction, energy projects, data centre builds, developing defence and national security capability and delivering the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, in addition to business as usual.
"Without a well-functioning skilled migration program working in concert with strong domestic training programs, we are destined for prolonged shortages leading to economic mediocrity," Mr Willox said.
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