Migration necessary to feed WA’s booming economy: Cook

Premier Roger Cook has defended a request to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for WA to be exempt from a reduction in the national skilled migrant intake, saying the state needs the workers to feed its booming economy.

WA’s allocation of skilled migrants under the state nominated migration program will drop from 5000 to 3400 places from next year as debate over the number of people entering the country heats up.

WA Premier Roger Cook. Credit: Matt Jelonek

The state-nominated migration program allows each state to target certain occupations it needs, allowing easier access visas for migrants that meet those skill requirements.

Cook wrote to Albanese earlier this month urging the Commonwealth to reverse the reduction in the program, arguing the state needed it to bring in more workers