Stories
Yoga Teachers Spark Heated Political Debate in Australia Over Immigration Policy
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News18•23-09-2026, 11:36
Yoga Teachers Spark Heated Political Debate in Australia Over Immigration Policy
- •Australia's immigration policies and visa queues are at the center of a political debate, with the opposition claiming the government prioritizes foreign yoga teachers over construction workers amidst a housing crisis.
- •The controversy began when Jobs and Skills Australia listed "yoga teacher" as a skill in demand, a classification linked to Australia's free trade agreement with India.
- •Opposition MPs leveraged this listing to claim the government preferred "yoga teachers to builders," despite government data showing only a single-digit number of yoga instructors entered under the skilled migration program.
- •Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke dismissed the claims as "absurd" and "silly," stating the government has brought in zero yoga teachers while tripling the intake of construction workers.
- •Burke highlighted that the Australia–India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), signed under the previous Coalition government, allows for a temporary pathway for Indian traditional chefs and yoga instructors.
Key Questions Answered
The Coalition opposition has attacked the Labor government, claiming that the country is prioritizing foreign yoga teachers and martial arts instructors over construction workers during a national housing crisis.
The row began when Jobs and Skills Australia listed yoga teachers as in-demand skills, which is a legacy item tied to the free trade agreement with India permitting temporary pathways for traditional instructors and chefs.
Tony Burke dismissed the claims as absurd and completely false, stating that zero yoga teachers have been brought in under the current government while noting they tripled the construction worker intake to nearly 15,000.
