Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to see her remain, because I make the point that there are numbers of members who write to the minister on behalf of constituents advancing the very reasons that this government gives for this program. In fact, I have a letter here from the member for Sydney. The member for Sydney wrote to the minister on 19 April. She said that she was concerned that a constituent could not expand his restaurant business until he could bring in a chef. She went on to say that her constituent had employed extra staff to work in expanding the business. She went on and said he had to turn down a lease on prime restaurant space because he was not able to expand his restaurant until he had received the approval.

We know where the Labor Party stands on these matters. There are some members who go out and argue on behalf of their constituents that the visa system should be expanded, while there are others out there suggesting that these measures do not benefit the Australian community, do not create jobs and put jobs at risk—when nothing could be further from the truth, as the member for Sydney knows.

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