Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

First, I thank the minister for his answer, albeit the majority of the questions I asked he did not address. Specifically, I am keen to know whether or not the minister regards the contributing factors that have been identified by Robert Cornall in his report as being the key factors which led to the events of 16-18 February. The minister likes to talk about his slogans, phrases, blank pieces of paper and the rest of it, but you will see from the contributing factors that have been identified by Robert Cornall that there are actually five dot points through pages 8 and 9. I read out three of them previously. The first two are the anger at being brought to PNG—one can understand that—and the anger with the policy that, if they are found to be refugees, they will be resettled in PNG, not Australia. I can understand that. Nowhere in those causes are the matters that the minister raised in his answer.

But there are three further dot points which I read out previously and which raise the specific question of the failure to engage in processing and resettlement in PNG. That is the question that the minister fundamentally refused to answer in the contribution he has just made. It does not surprise me that he has refused to answer it, because the fact of the matter is that this minister utterly dropped the ball on this question. I am interested that he claims to have discussed the mater of resettlement with his counterpart in PNG in their initial meeting. I am interested that he is saying that happened last year.

Certainly it is the case that there was not a ministerial forum—I pose this as a question—in relation to this until 2 April. Can the minister confirm that the process of ministerial forums between himself, our foreign minister, and his counterparts in PNG around resettlement and processing in PNG began on 2 April this year? The minister did not answer the question about whether or not he got his facts wrong when he said that processing was underway on 15 January this year, which seems to have been contradicted by material that emanates from John McCaffrey, the acting regional manager of security provider G4S, as I said in the first question. So I ask that again. Did he get his facts wrong on 15 January?

But there are other matters which have been raised over the last week in the context of the Senate inquiry which also seem to lend weight to the notion that processing and resettlement at Manus stalled, and this, as Robert Cornall identifies, was the key reason that led to the events that occurred on 16-18 February. I refer the minister to the evidence that was provided by Liz Thompson, a migration agent working with Playfair who conducted interviews on behalf of the transferees. On pages 22 and 23 of the Hansard report of her evidence that was provided last Thursday she says:

There were some—

RSD interviews—

completed very soon after my first deployment—

which was in August—

I understand. When we got back to the island the second time—

which was in February—

I was led to believe that about 50 RSD interviews had taken place. There were no decisions, but I understood about 50 RSD interviews had taken place. As I said, in our second appointment it was made very clear to us, on 5 February, that there was no plan for RSD, only CAPS interviews—

which are the initial interviews.

So we were being deployed simply to undertake that initial process of taking the statement, filling in the forms and then providing them to the Australian immigration department, who would then provide them to PNG.

She went on to say that a Jo Boardman made it clear that there were no RSD interviews to be taking place at that time. So I put that to the minister and say: is that your understanding of what was occurring at the facility in February of this year?

Finally, Minister, on 7 February you received a letter from G4S which had attached to it a letter they had provided to Martin Bowles, the secretary of your department, in which they warn you. They note: reliable intelligence indicates that violent protest may be imminent at Manus Island. My question is: what did you do when you received this letter? (Time expired)

My question for the minister will be in relation to Australia's skilled migration program, but I would obviously like to put some context to that, particularly in my electorate of Swan. I must admit I came in before, when the member for Wright was talking and asking a question. I heard him congratulate you on your great efforts in getting to a point where the boats have stopped for six months. I know we do not like to say they have permanently stopped, but you have done a fantastic job and I know the people of Western Australia, particularly in my electorate of Swan, would applaud you and congratulate you on your efforts and the way you went about that.

It surprises me that at the moment we have the shadow minister in here asking you detailed questions about things that while they were in government they never bothered to answer. They never bothered to successfully complete them or even do them. They are now in here asking little detail questions, gotcha questions, to show that they are on the job. Well, they were not on the job for six years.

Getting back to the skilled migration question, the local economy, as you know, in WA has had many skill shortages over the last few years. My electorate of Swan has a real mixture of skilled migrants, but no one group dominates that. A relatively large percentage of Swan residents were born overseas. The 2011 Census data shows that 52.1 per cent of the people in Swan were born in Australia, which is significantly lower than the national average of 69.8 per cent. However, as I said before, no one group dominates. The second largest group is made up of those born in the United Kingdom, at 7.3 per cent, followed by a myriad small groups, the majority from a number of our closest neighbours in South-East Asia. This includes 3.2 per cent from India, 2.9 per cent from Malaysia, 2.8 per cent from New Zealand, 2.6 per cent from China, 1.6 per cent from Indonesia and 1.4 per cent from the Philippines. From that point on, no group makes up more than one per cent of the population of Swan. This creates an interesting balance and mix in the electorate of Swan, and on the whole people mix together in the parks, foreshore, swimming pools et cetera and we all get on. As anyone who has been to Western Australia would know, the lifestyle there is magnificent. It is an outdoorsy lifestyle and everyone does get along quite well.

Back to skill shortages in WA. You will not be surprised to hear me say that there have been skill shortages in WA over the last few years during the mining boom. These can have an inflationary effect and cause cost-of-living pressures and service delivery issues if not addressed. Skilled migration therefore plays an important role in addressing these issues in the short term. Many people in my electorate would see a doctor or an optometrist that has come as a skilled migrant, for example. Up-to-date research undertaken by the Department of Employment identifies occupations with skill shortages state-wide, specifically in WA. The latest list, published on 28 February 2014, reflects research undertaken to 31 December 2013. The department states that skill shortages exist when employers are unable to fill, or have considerable difficulty filling, vacancies for an occupation or significant specialised skills needs within that occupation at current levels of remuneration and conditions of employment and in reasonably accessible locations. Statewide skills shortages specific to WA include vital social services such as childcare centre managers and childcare workers and trades such as first-class metal machinists, panel beaters, locksmiths, solid plasterers and stonemasons, roof tilers and electrical-line workers. As the minister might know, I did an apprenticeship as an electrician and I will have more to say on that matter when the Trade Support Loans (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014 comes up for debate in the next few days. The mining sector occupations where there are deemed shortages include production manager; mining engineer; medical services, which includes optometrists and audiologists; and food and hospitality, including baker, pastry cook, butcher or smallgoods maker, chef and cook. There is also a particular metropolitan shortage of hairdressers in Swan and in Western Australia.

I note that the minister has been focusing on the skilled migration issue through the Significant Investor Visa program. My question for the minister is how does the budget rebalance Australia's migration programs towards skilled migrants who help to create a stronger Australian economy and more local jobs?

See this speech in context