Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement) Share this | Hansard source

The Migration Legislation Amendment (Worker Protection) Bill 2008 is an important piece of legislation that will strengthen the skilled migration system and increase the protection for temporary migrant workers. The issue of temporary skilled migration has received significant attention over the last three years, and the previous speaker referred to some cases. In my previous role before entering parliament I interfaced with this system quite frequently in representing working people. To make it clear in that context, I and the ACTU were always very strong supporters of the migrant worker system in order to meet the skill shortages and labour shortages that of course have been present in the economy for some time, but it was always apparent that there were deficiencies in the safety net available to those workers and that they were not afforded rights equal to Australian participants in the labour force. It also needs to be emphasised that the overwhelming majority of employers worked well with this system and treated people decently when they were here working under these visa arrangements, but of course there were some notorious cases of exploitation and abuse. That is what needs to be addressed and is being addressed with this legislation.

The flawed administration of the temporary migration system by the previous government was symptomatic of the short-sighted approach to skills development and productivity by that government, the Howard government, in general as well. Viewed in conjunction with, for example, the Work Choices legislation and a decade of neglect in investment in skills policy, it highlights the short-termism of the Howard government and its failure in these areas of regulation. Instead of looking at long-term policy solutions to increase skills formation and productivity, the Howard government was content fundamentally to ride on the commodities boom. The result, as we have seen, was stagnating productivity and significant deficits in infrastructure investment.

By contrast, the Rudd Labor government is committed to significant investment in education and skills formation and a strong emphasis on productivity growth. And it is in that context, too, that we should view the temporary migration system and the policy changes implemented to strengthen its integrity. Some industries undoubtedly need access to temporary skilled migrants while they increase their Australian skilled workforce. However, that access is only sustainable in the longer term if the community is confident that the section 457 visa arrangements are not able to be exploited or to be used to undermine prevailing pay and employment conditions in the Australian labour market. The changes contained in this bill will help improve the community’s confidence in the system of temporary skilled migration.

Other changes the government has announced to help alleviate the skills shortage include adding 6,000 places to the permanent skilled migration program, expanding the reciprocal working holiday visa program for young workers and expanding the provisions of the working holiday visa. Importantly, the government has also increased the minimum salary level by 3.8 per cent for 457 visa workers. The last government froze the minimum salary level for well over two years. I submit that was one of the elements that undermined public confidence in the system, as temporary skilled migrant workers’ wages were frozen at the same time as wages—especially in the skilled employment category—were rising. This gave weight to claims that some of the temporary skilled workers were potentially being used in a way that was discriminatory for wages generally in the sectors of the economy in which they worked.

Another important part of the increase in the minimum salary level is that the wage increase will apply not just to new 457 visa entrants but also to existing temporary skilled migrants. This will rectify the inequitable situation in the past when, on the rare occasions that the last government did increase the minimum salary level, you could have one migrant enjoying the new salary whereas another migrant doing exactly the same job, who happened to enter the country a week earlier, could be paid less.

Furthermore, in relation to the government’s action in this area, it is pleasing to see the appointment of Commissioner Barbara Deegan to conduct a review into the temporary skilled migration system. The review’s terms of reference include six measures: firstly, the strengthening of the integrity of the temporary skilled migration program; secondly, the employment conditions that apply to workers employed under the temporary skilled migration program; thirdly, the adequacy of measures to protect 457 visa holders from exploitation; fourthly, the health and safety protection and training requirements that apply in relation to temporary skilled workers; fifthly, the English language requirements for the granting of temporary skilled migration worker visas; and, finally, the opportunity for labour agreements to contribute to the integrity of the temporary skilled migration program. To support the review and to provide advice to the government, the minister established the Skilled Migration Consultative Panel. Membership of the consultative panel includes representatives from state governments, industry and the labour movement. It is in this context that the details of this bill need to be considered.

Between 2004 and 2007 we witnessed a series of cases of exploitation of people under the section 457 visa program. Those cases, which usually came to light through welfare organisations or trade unions, highlighted flaws in the system. In June 2007, in response to a significant decline in public confidence in the temporary migration system, the previous government introduced a bill that included provisions to—amongst other things—tighten the monitoring and sanction provisions that applied to 457 visa holders, allow for information sharing between the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Australian Taxation Office on 457 visa holders and their sponsors and clarify the obligations of 457 sponsors. Unfortunately, that bill was never debated and was not passed prior to the 2007 election, and therefore lapsed.

The Rudd Labor government, as part of its long-term commitment to education, training and productivity, has taken those elements of the bill and enhanced the scope of the protections. They are contained in and adopted by the Migration Amendment (Workers Protection) Bill 2008. Some of the additional provisions include that the bill now applies to all temporary worker visas—for example, occupation trainees—to stop employers from simply moving to other visa classes to avoid the bill’s provisions, and applies to visas issued under labour agreements, again to stop some employers from moving into labour agreements to avoid the bill’s provisions. The bill also contains important provisions which increase flexibility for employers. The bill adds two new sanctions where there is a breach of a sponsorship obligation. The new sanctions allow for fines of up to $33,000 for companies who fail to satisfy a sponsorship obligation.

The improvements in government oversight are, in my opinion, the most important provisions in the bill. The new powers are modelled on the workplace inspector powers in the Workplace Relations Act 1996, which will be carried over into the Fair Work Bill when it is enacted. These facilitate the carrying out of inspector functions by officers of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Under these provisions, inspectors will have the power to inspect the premises; interview any person; require the production of documents; and copy such documents. These are fundamental principles that the last government failed to implement—that is, temporary migrants should be granted the same level of protection from exploitation through adequate inspection powers as Australian workers. The previous government manifestly and deliberately failed to ensure that those inspection powers were available in relation to temporary migrants, who are often the most vulnerable people in workplaces and who apparently were considered as deserving of lesser rights than other workers. That attitude led to some notorious examples of abuse and exploitation.

As I mentioned, the bill also provides for improved flexibility for employers. Increasing the integrity of the temporary migration system is vital to continued confidence. Maximising the flexibility for employers who have a genuine temporary skills shortage is extremely important, and it is recognised in the legislation. The bill establishes a process to vary a sponsorship approval without going through the entire sponsorship approval process once more. This streamlining will create efficiencies for employers and for the department.

The changes contained in the bill will improve the operation of the temporary skilled migration system, which will help address short-term skill shortages. This is part of the Labor government’s wider skills agenda. The highest priority of the Rudd government is to equip our own workforce to meet the skills needs of the economy. That is why in the 2008 budget the Treasurer announced a $19.3 billion investment in education and training, with $1.9 billion of that to be spent to fund 630,000 new training places. This is a key initiative to address the long-term skill shortages. In addition, the Prime Minister announced this month that an additional 56,000 training places will be provided this year, and that represents the investment of a further $187 million.

It is important that, while the increased training of Australians takes place, industry has access to a functioning and effective temporary skilled migration scheme. To do this the community must have confidence in the system—most importantly, confidence that migrant workers are not being exploited and that their pay and employment conditions are equal to those of the employees with whom they are working in Australian workplaces. This bill will increase confidence in the system. It is on this basis that I commend it to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Price) adjourned.

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