Restaurant and Catering Industry Angered at Visa Changes

Restaurant owners in Australia have been angered over the decision toremove chefs from the Australian immigration department’s Skilled Occupations List.  ImmigrationMinister Chris Evans announced over the weekend that 219 occupations, includingcooking, would be removed from the Skilled Occupation List.It is thought that the changes to the list are intended to help the country toattract a higher calibre of  Australian work visa  applicant.The list saw a remarkable 219 occupations removed, with only 181 remaining. Asa result, people moving to Australia to work will need to be skilled in one ofthe remaining occupations to automatically qualify for independent skilledmigration to Australia.Fiona Wright, the president of the ACT Restaurant and Catering Association saidthat local restaurants needed to be able to attract overseas workers due to ashortage of skilled chefs from Australia living in the area. She explained howthe decision could have a huge effect on local business.''Local industry, especially the hotels and the clubs, rely very heavily onbringing in these fully qualified chefs from overseas," she said.  "It will decimate our industry if the Government really makes itdifficult.''