Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

I have explained the way in which the system operates at the present time. I have explained to the honourable gentleman, as he knows well, that the average wage paid under 457 visas in Australia is in the order of $70,000 to $80,000, which is well in advance of the average wage in Australia, and that that system operates in an extremely useful way in finding labour in this country. What the honourable gentleman fails to say is that in an occupation in which the average wage in Australia is much less than the $42,000, leaving aside the regional difference, nonetheless there is a requirement under the present arrangements that that $42,000 or the regional equivalent be paid. So some visa holders are actually being paid more than what is the going rate in that particular industry. Indeed, I have businesspeople coming to me and complaining that they have to pay $42,000 in certain instances when in fact the going rate in Australia is $32,000 or $35,000. So the honourable gentleman ought to look at the entire picture rather than pick out one little part of it in relation to these programs.

In terms of the threshold itself, that threshold is adjusted from time to time and it has been moved upward from time to time. It operates at a different level in, for example, the information technology industry in Australia in which, generally, higher wages and salaries and conditions are offered and therefore it is set at a higher level above those. But the government will monitor it from time to time, taking into account that there are, as I said, some occupations in which bringing someone in from overseas on a 457 visa actually involves a greater amount of payment to the individual concerned than to an Australian worker who might be working alongside that person. As I said, the complaint is made by businesspeople to me from time to time that, if the average amount of payment for an Australian worker in a particular occupation in a particular industry and at a particular location is, for example, $32,000 and yet they are required to pay $42,000, how is that a fair outcome in relation to the comparison between the two?

In the end, this is a balance so far as this program is concerned. I take it from the honourable gentleman’s remarks that he is not opposed to 457 visas in Australia. The total number of people coming in on 457 visas is not large in terms of the workforce in Australia. Having a workforce of over 10 million people in this country, we have on the last year’s numbers—obviously they vary a bit from year to year—some 40,000 visa holders as primary visa holders under the 457 program and about 30,000 secondary visa holders under that program. Even if you take the total of 70,000—or let us say it is 100,000 even—for a workforce of 10 million people in this country, that is not a large number when the reality is, in many industries, in many regions, in many parts of this country, that we are facing a shortage of workers.

As the Reserve Bank reminds us from time to time, that shortage of workers is a potential capacity constraint so far as the prosperity of Australia is concerned. Of course, that prosperity has an impact on other workers in Australia as well, not only those who are coming in from overseas but indeed, the prosperity of all Australians. So the government is committed to a temporary skilled visa program. We have resisted temptations and suggestions that have been made to us from time to time to lower that level of skill. The honourable gentleman knows, for example, that the trucking industry has been crying out, saying that it cannot find in particular long-distance truck drivers in this country. I have put in place a working group, including a representative from the Transport Workers Union, to look at that issue overall. But that is just one example of where industry in Australia is saying, ‘We simply cannot find the workers to undertake the type of work which is required if we want to continue to provide the services and therefore grow our industries and our businesses in Australia and provide work for Australians.’

So this is an important component so far as the overall labour market and migration program is concerned. It is valuable to Australia. To remove it would do enormous damage to the Australian economy. We monitor its operation from time to time. We try to ensure that any potential abuse is something that is dealt with, such as I have foreshadowed.

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