Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I will speak very briefly. The seconder of this motion, the member for Kennedy, is not on the speaking list. To allow him time to speak I will speak very briefly. I refer members and those interested in this to my speech when this bill was introduced.

At the moment enterprise migration agreements can have a massive impact on the Australian labour market, yet they are completely unregulated. The immigration minister is in effect able to have a big impact on wages and conditions in this country. The Protecting Local Jobs (Regulating Enterprise Migration Agreements) Bill 2012 not only will ensure greater transparency but will put the government to the obligation of applying a simple test. Before an enterprise migration agreement can be signed it will have to be shown that the employer has advertised the job locally and it has not been able to be filled. That is a very simple test and one that I think most people in this country would agree with as a sensible precondition before we seek workers from offshore.

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