Would you support the importation of unskilled labour as a way of addressing the skill shortage?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, we have a skilled migration program, the 457 visa class. That has been used in Western Australia and other parts of the country to bring skilled labour when labour is short. My colleague, the Western Australian, Chris Evans, our Minister for Immigration, has recently reviewed the Section 457 visa arrangement to make sure that it works in a more efficient manner for employers and particularly for employers with a good track record. But that is about skilled labour, not unskilled labour. What we want to do, obviously, is lift the skills of Australians of the people who are here, and the 175,000 places, training places for people outside the workforce, are about bringing into the workforce people who need that boost to get them a job. QUESTION: What do you make of the state of Western Australian politics at the moment? JULIA GILLARD: Well, look, I don’t seek to comment on matters involving the Western Australian Liberal Party. I think probably Liberal Party members ha
