Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Is the minister aware of an authoritative report by Adrian Rollins in the Australian Financial Review that says that business is on track to import almost 80,000 workers under section 457 work visas this year—this would be a 100 per cent increase on last year’s 39,530 visas? Is the minister further aware that already one in five of those already here have received permanent residency and—even upon the highly questionable premise that this exponential growth rate will not increase and will remain at 100 per cent a year—this will still mean that, even without family reunions, over two million workers will have flooded into this country by 2011? Further, would the minister not agree that, with the government making section 457 people available at $37,700 a year and with nearly half of these people coming from $60 a week wage countries, not only would a business be most foolish—

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