Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to a story in today’s Sydney Morning Herald regarding ABC Tissues, where foreign temporary workers do not speak enough English to read safety signs and are not trained to perform basic tasks. Is the Prime Minister aware that an Australian worker on the site remarked:

We’d see people on the roof, 20 metres in the air, and you couldn’t even yell at them to get ... down.

Is the Prime Minister also aware that an unskilled foreign worker tried to fit a power tool plug into a socket by stripping the cord and inserting naked wires straight into the socket? Does the Prime Minister think these are acceptable work practices and why has he allowed foreign workers with little or no English to do these jobs at all?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am aware of the story in the Sydney Morning Herald but I am not in a position to verify the accuracy of the various claims made. Obviously if those claims are true they are alarming, and the practice should be condemned by everybody. I can inform the House that the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs issued a Hunan industrial company which is contracted to erect a tissue paper machine at ABC Tissues in Sydney with a notice of intention to apply sanctions on a number of grounds, including failing to pay the minimum salary level, comply with immigration laws, comply with workplace relations laws, ensure necessary licensing of workers, notify DIMA of relevant changes of circumstances and deduct tax instalments. On 16 August, the department sent a notice of intention to ABC Tissues on the grounds that two 457 visa holders were not carrying out the duties of the nominated positions. Their response was received on 1 September and is being reviewed by the department. Referrals on these matters have also been made to a number of New South Wales government agencies, the Office of Workplace Services and the Australian Taxation Office. These agencies have the authority to sanction within the terms of their own legislation. Subject to the determination of these other agencies, the department may take further action as appropriate.

I think it is worth informing the House, whilst generally talking on the issue of 457 visas, that as of January 2006 the largest single user of these visas was the New South Wales department of health, and state governments are actively involved in the process through their role in regional certifying bodies. Most recently, the Western Australian government wrote to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs seeking an urgent skilled labour agreement to allow it to sponsor temporary skilled meatworkers to enter Western Australia to meet an urgent unmet demand in abattoirs in that state. This government is happy to work with Western Australia to ensure that those visitors can work to full capacity for the benefit of the whole community. This government supports—as do the eight state and territory Labor governments—the 457 system. We do, however, unconditionally condemn breaches. Any breaches will be severely dealt with and heavily prosecuted.