Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth was pressed on 7News' Sunrise over why construction tradespeople are not ranked more highly in Australia's Skilled Migration Scheme, given the country's ongoing housing crisis. The exchange has drawn attention because building trades sit in the scheme's third tier alongside occupations such as actors, dancers and animal trainers, prompting questions about whether visa priorities match the nation's most urgent labour needs.

Under the current system, nurses and health professionals are classed as tier one and teachers as tier two, while construction trades fall into tier three. Host Nat Barr repeatedly questioned the ranking, but Rishworth defended the Albanese government's record, citing a threefold rise in construction workers since taking office and the fast-tracking of skills recognition, which she said had approved an extra 20,000 people. She declined to say outright whether tradies should be ranked above their current tier.