PETER VAN ONSELEN: Australia is crying out for more nurses and tradies. So what does Anthony Albanese give us? Dog handlers and kung fu experts

You might be surprised to find out which jobs the Albanian government wants new migrants to be skilled in and which jobs it prefers to turn away. The decisions seem very questionable.

Daily Mail Australia has scoured Labor’s lists to discover its priorities when it comes to the migration of skilled workers. The findings are surprising, to say the least.

For example, dog handlers are inside, emergency workers are away. And those are just two examples; there are many more that defy common sense.

The Master Builders and the Opposition are in an uproar this week over revelations that yoga instructors will receive preferential treatment when it comes to skills migration over professions such as painters, tilers and stonemasons.

The revelations come amid a housing crisis, with not enough homes available to meet the country’s needs.

Sword-wielding kung fu experts get the green light, according to the government’s skilled jobs list

If you live abroad and are a dog handler, you will be given preferential status on the Albanian government’s migration list

Jobs and Skills Australia has tried to justify its decision, but even Australia’s top body for yoga instructors has questioned whether more people should come to the country.

The opposition and the Master Builders Association are questioning the government’s priorities in putting certain professions on the ‘maybe’ list, with accusations that restricting the migration of skilled workers in the construction sector is all about pandering to the trade union movement .

Daily Mail Australia can reveal there are plenty of other questionable ‘ins and outs’ on the Jobs and Skills Australia list.

The draft skills list, prepared at the request of the Albanian government, classifies various jobs into three separate categories: jobs preferred for migration of skilled workers, jobs on the maybe list – which require further consultation – and jobs being rejected entirely.

The government says the list is just about meeting employment needs, but we have seen before that when governments try to pick winners for medium to long-term national needs, they do not always succeed.

Australia is about to refuse migrants in the following employment areas: care workers, nurse managers, disability services officers, child or youth care workers and beef and sheep farmers.

The decision to deny workers in these areas comes despite the Albanian government continuing to insist on prioritizing many of these services to the Australian community.

Questionable jobs receiving approval for migration to Australia don’t just include yoga instructors. Wushu martial artists and dog handlers are also on the list.

Aid workers play a key role in our community, but are rejected on the government migration list

Jobs and Skills Australia says we need more yoga instructors, even though industry’s peak body says we don’t

Wushu martial arts is a form of kung fu. It integrates Shaolin kung fu and tai chi. It may include the use of swords. According to Jobs and Skills Australia, we have a shortage of these martial arts experts and need more to meet demand.

But apparently we don’t need emergency services and disabled people, nor youth care, nurse managers or even medical scientists. Despite the investments being made in the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the challenges of an aging population. Retirement village managers are also turned away, as are health care services managers.

The government wants that Australians are warning about the impact of climate change on our environment, including an increase in extreme weather events that are apparently only going to get worse. Yet emergency services workers are rejected for migration.

In addition to favoring more dog handlers, yoga instructors and wushu martial artists, Jobs and Skills Australia gives television journalists the check mark for access to migration (I thought the sector was in free fall with many layoffs?), artistic directors, retail buyers and arts administrators.

The puzzling decisions don’t stop there. While the maybe list – subject to further consultation before approval is given or not – includes a number of skilled trades that the construction industry is crying out for, other industries are also puzzled as to why the needs in their area are not being met.

Disability workers should not be on the government’s draft skilled migration list

For example, nurse clinical directors are only on the maybe list, as are auditors, accountants and management accountants. This despite the current shortage of accountants and the increasing number of bankruptcies.

Jobs and Skills Australia was established by the Albanian government, tasked with filling the skills gap across the economy. One of the professions also rejected in the draft list is the role of economists.

Given some of the strange decisions highlighted above, coupled with the economic challenges Australia faces during this cost-of-living crisis, excluding economists may also be a strange decision.