Pocock says skilled migrants should be top priority as Australia faces shortage of AI workers and tradies – as it happened

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast ‘Gut-wrenching’: Bowen to meet with Nepali community today Chris Bowen said he would meet members of the Nepali Australian community later today. Every person who’s been rescued or found is a relief to their family and to the broader Australian community. But of course, we still have 36 Australians who are missing and unaccounted for, which is just gut-wrenching for all Australians and for the Nepalese Australian community in particular, whom I’m spending time with later today. But all I can say is that we’re continuing to send any support that the Nepalese government asked for. I think that leaders in the Pacific were deeply concerned: one, that a missile test was done without permission of the countries whose airspace it had travelled through, and two, that there was no notice of the said missile test. So I think it’s both. It is a concern about sovereignty and safety, and one that Australia fully backs. It’s a pretty strong statement, Sally, and one that Australia played a role in crafting. Continue reading...