Nat Barr grills Labor minister over why tradies rank alongside actors in the skilled visa scheme during a national housing crisis

Published: 05:22, 8 July 2026 | Updated: 05:23, 8 July 2026 A fierce debate has ignited after Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth was questioned on why tradies aren't ranked higher for Australia's skilled visas despite the nation's housing crisis. The government's Skilled Migration Scheme currently lists nurses and health professionals as tier one occupations and teachers as tier two. Construction trades are among the jobs in the third tier, along with actors, dancers, economists, animal handlers and animal trainers. During an appearance on 7News' Sunrise program, host Nat Barr questioned why construction workers are not prioritised during an ongoing housing crisis.  But Rishworth defended the Albanese government's management of the number of manual workers invited into Australia. 'I do agree that we need to see more skilled tradies in our country and that's exactly what our government has been doing,' she said on Wednesday. 'We've had a three times increase in the number of construction workers since we've come to government taking up those jobs. 'But importantly, we're also fast tracking the recognition of those skills so not only can those construction workers come here, but they can actually work on construction sites.' A fierce debate has ignited after Nat Barr questioned why tradies aren't ranked higher under Australia's Skilled Migration Scheme despite a national housing crisis Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth (pictured) refused to say whether construction workers should be prioritised below nurses, health professionals and teachers Rishworth said there are an extra 20,000 people who have had their skills approved under the fast-tracking process.  But Barr continued to question if construction workers should be listed at the same priority level as animal trainers and actors. 'I want to see more tradies, I want to see more doctors and I want to see more nurses,' Rishworth said, but she did not directly answer Barr's question. 'What I would say is that when it comes to making sure we've got more construction workers in the country, I absolutely support that. 'I also want to see those skills recognised… so they can get to work quickly.' Barr then asked the same question to Shadow Defence Minister James Patterson who said he was unhappy with the rankings. 'Only a Labor government... would think that, in the middle of our worst housing crisis, animal trainers and actors are equally important to bring to Australia right now,' he said. 'We have an unprecedented housing crisis and are not building enough homes, and Labor thinks we should bring in as many economists and actors as we should bring in sparkies and carpenters and plumbers and other critical trades.' Rishworth said there has been an influx of overseas tradies since Labor's election win in 2025 Rishworth denied Patterson's claims before pointing to the influx of overseas tradies once again.  She said the tiered list was based on 'expert recommendations' and had not changed since the previous government was in office. 'Why not? We've got a housing crisis now, so why hasn't it changed in four years,' Barr said. 'Should it change? Are you saying that we haven't looked at this in four years?'  In response, Rishworth only said the government continued to receive expert advice on the priorities. Under the National Housing Accord, the Albanese government aims to build 1.2million new homes by 2029. It means 240,000 homes need to be built each year, but recent federal government modelling suggests the target will not be reached until June 2030, one year after the Accord ends. Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett told realestate.com.au on July 1 that statistics pointed to a growing shortfall. 'Annualised data shows a 91,000-homebuilding shortfall has marked the Accord's first two years,' he said. 'The volume of approvals for new homes has been consistently below its long-term trend over the past two years.' Meanwhile, the affordability council's 2026 State of the Housing System Report found the commitment could have been met by September 2030 before the Iran war. 'However, the conflict in the Middle East now brings heightened uncertainty to the outlook for housing supply,' it said.