David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a letter from the honourable member for Brand proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Government’s failure to prevent the use of skilled temporary sub class 457 visas to exploit foreign workers and drive down Australian wages.

I call upon those members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

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

This government exploits foreign workers and turns all workers into unwilling participants in the Prime Minister’s wages race to the bottom. It is a government that will go to any lengths to avoid its responsibilities when it comes to training Australian kids.

Today we have heard the shameful story of Jack Zhang—exploited, cheated and now dumped by his employer. He is the latest victim of the Prime Minister’s immigration industrial relations one-two punch on Australian values, Australian jobs and Australian wages. He will not be the last. This is just a beginning. Make no mistake: the shameful treatment of Jack Zhang is no accident. The Prime Minister knows exactly what he is doing here, no matter how he might seek to evade the questions identifying him as the minister responsible for these particular events. He is deliberately using 457 visas to drive down everyone’s wages and to strip all workers of their rights and conditions.

Australians reading these stories that appeared today in the Age newspaper and others will be rightly horrified by the exploitation of this man. But there is something else at work here. These shocking cases have implications for Australian families. These shocking cases are all part of John Howard’s wages race to the bottom. The visas are the second line of attack in the campaign to destroy Australian values at work.

The Prime Minister’s industrial relations laws and now this shameful manipulation of our immigration system are working hand in glove to bring workers down. The rorting of the government’s 457 visas leaves foreign workers wide open for exploitation, and it threatens the wages and jobs security of all working Australians. When you take away all Jack Zhang’s rights and his conditions, you strip the rights and conditions of every worker. When Jack Zhang is cheated, robbed and exploited, you leave the door wide open to cheat, rob and exploit every other employee.

This is not about rogue bosses. This is all about the Prime Minister’s wages race to the bottom. He does not have any plan for the future other than exploiting overseas workers and driving down everyone’s wages. That is the only answer he has to Australia’s crippling skills shortage after 10 years in office and after repeated warnings not simply from the Labor Party but also from the Reserve Bank. He is uniquely responsible for that crippling skills shortage.

The government is so out of touch that the Minister for Vocational and Technical Education thinks the solution to Australia’s skills shortage is to build TAFE colleges in Africa. I see he is rushing to deny it. It is a story that he deliberately planted in the Australian newspaper; therefore I do not believe his denial. For 10 years this government has demonstrated such reluctance to train Australians, it is simply capable of anything. If he is not going to do it, why did he tell the Australian that he was?

In the last 10 years the Howard government has turned away 300,000 Australians from TAFE, so when these 300,000 Australians try to get the skills they need to be the smart, skilled workers that our country is crying out for, what does this Prime Minister do? He slams the door in their faces and he imports foreign apprentices. He gives Australia a massive skills crisis, high teenage unemployment and dog-eat-dog workplaces. When is this Prime Minister going to wake up? Australian parents want TAFE courses for their kids in Narrabri, not in Nairobi; in Bendigo, not in Botswana; and in Katoomba, not in Khartoum. Our economy demands that the skills crisis is solved on the New South Wales North Coast, not on Africa’s Ivory Coast.

Parents in Middle Australia must be wondering today what sort of Australia the Howard government wants to pass on to their kids. The Prime Minister has changed. He used to say he cared about Middle Australia. It is absolutely clear now that he does not care about Middle Australia. We in the Labor Party say, ‘Train Australians first and train them now.’ I say to the Prime Minister, ‘Stop turning your back on young Australians.’ Sadly Australian families are having to endure a Prime Minister who is wrongly caught up in the Middle East, when he ought to be focused on Middle Australia, and a training minister who is delivering ideas from middle earth, when he should be delivering for Middle Australia.

In the last six months, I have visited numerous workplaces around this nation. When I have gone to those workplaces, either in my own remarks or in questions asked of me, two areas have been mentioned: firstly, the impact of the industrial relations laws on workers and, secondly, the impact of 457 visas. I can tell you that in every workplace in Australia that I visit now, 457 visas are a matter of scandal. Everybody has a story of exploitation. Everybody has a story of manipulation and many Australians are fearful of the consequences for them.

I always preface my remarks in answer to any question or in directly addressing the matter with the commitment that I am a very strong supporter of the migration program in this country. I believe strongly that we need migrants, including skilled migrants. Australia was built on the hard work, determination and dreams of men and women born in other countries, but the migrants we need are those who sign up to Australian values, including Australian values and rights in the workplace. Migrants need to be empowered to sign up to Australian values and rights, including values and rights in the workplace. When they choose to leave a job, like any other Australian, they need to be able to leave that job without being expelled from the country. When they choose to approach their employer and demand that they get paid their proper award penalty rates, they must be paid the proper rates.

These to me are all central features of Australian values. They ought to apply to us whether or not we come from seven or eight generations of Australians or whether we arrived here yesterday. That is the sort of Australia we want. That is the sort of Australia there must be. But today the 457 visa system is undermining the migration program. It is undermining workplace relations in this country. It is undermining fundamental Australian values. It is utterly hypocritical of the Prime Minister to be out there saying that he thinks all people in this country should speak English while they import bushels worth of workers who have absolutely no understanding of the language and pose for themselves and their coworkers the most direct possible threat to their safety in the workplace. Through no fault of their own, they are in a position where they can deliberately be exploited, used as cheap labour and be dispensed with. It is extraordinary. I will say more about that later.

There has been a massive surge in the number of 457 applicants and entrants. We are beginning to see why this particular migration category is being perverted when we look at what happened to Jack Zhang. To get his job at a Melbourne printing company he paid almost $10,000 to an employment agent in China and another $10,000 was deducted from his pay packet by his employer. He was paid $751.92 a week; the award is $1,140. He worked 60 hours a week and received $60 overtime; under the award he should have been paid $152.00. On top of that he paid rent to his employer. Now, having paid off his $10,000 debt, he has been sacked and evicted, and his boss, apparently adopting the attitude that there are plenty more where Jack Zhang came from, has another worker already on his way from China.

This case has serious implications for Australian workers because it sets a new low benchmark. It drives down wages and conditions for everyone in the workforce. It means that every other Australian worker has otherwise to compete at these rates. Understand this—

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These are isolated cases. You should rewrite your speech to take into account correct information!

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

You will get your chance. Any person who permits this as a minister ought to be ashamed of himself. He says, ‘These are isolated cases.’ We are hearing of cases like this day after day!

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why aren’t you recording them?

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

We have been dealing with ABC Tissues and the 20-odd people in that regard. We have been talking about people in meatworks around this country.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have done two so far.

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

You are responsible, along with Prime Minister, for what has been happening. The 457 visa category was introduced for the very sensible purpose—and it has been there for a very lengthy period—of ensuring that in specific projects, when there is a requirement for a particular skills set that may be closely related to a type of job that is being developed in this country, the person can be brought in. Rarely has it raised in the past issues of whether or not the person has access to the English language. Rarely has it raised issues about the real skills and qualifications of the person concerned. Rarely has it raised issues about the correct payment of the persons involved. They were usually generally highly skilled and paid way beyond that paid for any other Australian workers engaged in the process—that is, until a couple of years ago. A couple of years ago, all this started to change and the people who entered under the 457 visa were very different people indeed.

They were the sorts of people we saw recently at the ABC Tissues site in Sydney, where workers brought in under 457 visas could not speak enough English to read safety instructions or understand verbal instructions on work sites. As one Australian worker on the site said, ‘We would see people on the roof 20 metres in the air and you could not even yell at them to get down.’ 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. The staggering hypocrisy of this Prime Minister, saying workers should learn to speak English while allowing workers whose lack of English endangers them and their workmates to come into this country! We discovered that in the same workplace in Sydney up to 50 Australian tradespeople were stood down without pay while temporary foreign workers were kept on and continued to be paid. Australian fitters, welders, boilermakers and electricians were stood down in the week of 18 August 2006 and the site was shut down for around two weeks, but the temporary foreign workers were kept on pay the whole time. It is unfair that local tradespeople on higher wages are stood down while cheaper temporary foreign workers keep their jobs.

The Prime Minister has no shame on these matters. He will stop at nothing. When some journalist or the Labor Party or the trade union movement exposes one of these atrocities, we get the minister, full of unction, up here talking about how an investigation is going to take place into all of that. Exposed, it will be dealt with; not exposed, it just continues its insidious work, backing up the efforts that this government is now making to undermine the wages and conditions of all Australians, particularly entry-level Australians who are entering the workforce for the first time. We are on to this government and we will deal with this government in our campaigning around the country. As I have had evidence of already—as I have occasion to know—people are very interested in what I have to say on these matters. (Time expired)

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The first point I would make in relation to this matter of public importance, in which the opposition alleges the government’s failure to prevent the use of skilled temporary subclass 457 visas to exploit foreign workers and drive down wages, is that that proposition has not been proven. The Prime Minister dealt with that very clearly today when he made it clear that the objective evidence is that wages are not being driven down—that, in fact, there was a two per cent increase in wages in the last quarter. I think that puts paid to that proposition immediately. In the context of employment in Australia, there has been substantial employment growth. Unemployment is at the lowest level it has been at in over 30 years. That is a substantial record of achievement, but it also means that there are circumstances in which you might reasonably expect that there will be some growth in visa entries for people who have skills that are in demand in the Australian labour market.

The point I wanted to start with was to explain the genesis of the skilled temporary subclass visa 457. This visa class arose as a result of an inquiry initiated by the former Labor government, which handed down a report known as the Roach report on business temporary entry. The report was accepted by the former Labor government and these visa classes were implemented. The fact is that the Labor government at that time was strongly of the view that we needed to have streamlined access to skilled temporary workers from overseas. The then minister, Senator Bolkus, said in the Senate:

The policy objective for this government is to place Australia, through our rules and regulations in this temporary migration area, in a position to benefit both now and into the future.

He went on to say:

... it is crucial that we ensure the smooth movement of key personnel into and out of this country.

The report was handed to the government and accepted in 1995. Labor did not remain in office for much longer. In fact, as Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, I implemented that report in the terms of the recommendations made.

It is interesting that, in the eight years of the operation of the recommendations of that report and of the measures under the new regulations, the Leader of the Opposition said he had no complaint. What he said today was that, in the last two years, he has had some complaint. That is what he is suggesting. I ask myself: what were the changes that were made by the government in relation to the rules and regulations for 457 visas that have generated this possibility of potential for complaint? The reality is that there were no changes. Yes, in the economic circumstances that we are in, there has been a substantial increase in the number of visas issued, but that is taking place in the context of the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, jobs growth of 180,000, the longest period of sustained economic growth that Australia has experienced, the baby boomer generation reaching retirement age and projections of a slowing growth rate in the Australian working age population. It is against this background that Australia and Senator Bolkus argued for visa class 457. He was arguing for it in the context of the expectation that, in the following five to 10 years, we would have a critical need to attract skilled workers.

The 457 visa is a demand driven program, so its size does fluctuate with the strength of the economy. Research shows that the program has been highly positive in terms of its impact on the living standards of Australians and on Commonwealth and state budgets. Access Economics has done a considerable amount of work in relation to that visa class and has been able to substantiate those benefits. Sponsored temporary business workers raise the average productivity of Australian workers. They provide fiscal benefits to the Commonwealth, state and territory budgets. The intake of about 37,100 persons a year—that is, 22,000 principal applicants and their dependants—benefits the living standard of existing Australian residents by about $43 per head per year.

So what we see is a business class that benefits the Australian economy very substantially and that is significantly used by state and territory governments to meet their skill needs. Yes, there has been an increase, but it has brought people with skills that we need that are benefiting Australia quite significantly. The source countries are primarily: the United Kingdom, 24 per cent; India, 10 per cent; and South Africa, eight per cent. Managers, professionals and associate professionals continue to represent the largest user groups in the 457 class and registered nursing remains the largest nominated occupation.

So I think it is important to recognise that in context this visa system is working particularly well; it is working for the benefit of Australians generally. If you look at the administration of this visa class, which is closely monitored by the government, the fact is that there have been something of the order of 6,471 business sponsorships monitored to test their compliance with sponsorship undertakings during 2005-06. Of those, 1,790 business sponsors were also site visited based upon targeted risk profiling and random samples—not on the basis of complaints, I might say. If you look at the numbers of complaints that are made, they are relatively minor in the context of the numbers of visas that are issued.

Since December 2005, 15 allegations have been finalised, with four of the investigations finding that allegations were proven. The department is currently investigating some 200 employers in relation to potential issues of abuse in the 457 class—and this includes the allegations received from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and from community sources—and other issues identified during regular monitoring activities. In other words, if you look at the community complaints, as well as the issues identified by the department’s own monitoring activities, you have investigation of some 200 employers out of something in the order of 10,000 business sponsors. I think it is important to put that in context.

The facts are that there is labour testing in relation to these visa classes and, notwithstanding the allegations, this system has worked well for eight of the 10 years it has been in place. The early testing that was accepted by Minister Bolkus in 1995—that is, that it be for key activities—was the subject during the late 1990s of a review by government. To clarify matters, key and non-key activities were replaced on 1 July 2001 by minimum skill and salary thresholds in order to more tightly administer the program. That has meant that, while Australia’s unemployment rate is highly polarised, with low rates of unemployment for skilled people and relatively higher rates of unemployment for the unskilled, new regulations stipulated that, for highly skilled positions gazetted by the minister for immigration on advice from the minister for employment—that is, professionals, managers, associate professionals and tradespeople—no labour testing would be required. Certification by a regional certifying body that the position cannot be reasonably filled locally would be required for semi-skilled positions. So there is enhanced testing that was put in place by this government to ensure that the system would operate more effectively.

In relation to English language, many occupations sponsored under the 457 program are subject to licensing and registration. English language skills are mandatory requirements for many of them. Nursing, which is the largest occupation, is a group where that is required. English is not an issue for around 75 per cent of the 457 visa holders in the professional, managerial or associate professional jobs. But for other skilled occupations the employer is best placed to determine whether a person has the right English or other skills for the job. For lesser skilled occupations, there is a case for the introduction of an English language requirement, and that is why on 1 May the minister, Senator Vanstone, announced an English language requirement would be introduced subject to consultation with industry, and those consultations have been underway.

On issues in relation to wages: 457 visa holders are not a cheap option given the costs of recruiting from overseas. Professor Peter McDonald found that 36 per cent of surveyed 457 employees either were promoted or obtained better jobs with another sponsor. Market forces ensure that people holding such visas are paid market rates, and average salaries for 457 visa holders are around $65,000 a year. I think it is better to allow the market to set those rates than to try and regulate them. Minimum salary levels, which have been increasing at 4.6 per cent per annum, provide the floor for 457 visas.

In relation to training issues, employers seeking to sponsor workers for 457 visas must demonstrate that they have a satisfactory record or demonstrated commitment to training Australians. In 2004-05, around 650 sponsor applications were refused. Some 75 per cent were refused on grounds of inadequate commitment to training. The government’s commitment to vocational training has grown steadily over the past 10 years. In 1985 there were 36,500 apprenticeships and traineeships completed; in 2005 this number had grown to 134,900. I think it is important to recognise that.

These positions under section 457 are not the guest worker arrangements which we see in other parts of the world. The skill levels of workers under the 457 visa class are significantly higher. 457 visa workers receive average salaries above the Australian average, while guest workers in Europe and North America receive low salaries. 457 workers are not tied to a single employer and there are often pathways here in relation to residence.

If I may, I would like to speak briefly about compliance because it is important to recognise that the allegations against those people who use the 457 class of visa have been quite limited. I mentioned before that allegations about 200 employers within a program of 10,000 participating employers is an indication of the extent to which these matters are the subject of irregularities. Allegations against 200 sponsors represent about two per cent of the employers using the visa class.

In relation to those who misuse the 457 class of visa, there are severe sanctions. The Migration Act provides for sanctions to be applied where a sponsor breaches undertakings with regard to their workers. The sanctions can include cancellation of sponsorship and barring the sponsor for a specified time from being a sponsor. The Migration Act provides for recovery of debts to the Commonwealth with a limit of up to $10,000, including where we have to locate a sponsored person, detain a sponsored person and remove a sponsored person from Australia, including airfares. The new employer sanctions bill, which is presently before the parliament, will further strengthen available sanctions where an employer misuses the 457 class of visa. In addition, Minister Vanstone has announced that there will be consultations on possible fines.

I would mention the fact that temporary visa holders do save and create jobs for Australians. This is highly beneficial. The irregularities are not substantial in the context of the whole scheme. If skills are lacking in regional areas that prevent the creation or continuation of jobs, the 457 visa class gives you the opportunity to obtain people with appropriate skills that will create opportunities for other Australians.

The minister has produced a table of good-news stories in relation to 457 visa holders and employers. I suspect that, if I ask for leave to table that statement, I would probably be denied it. But I do not have to seek leave to table it and so I do table—

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You do require leave outside of question time.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to table it, if that is the case.

Leave granted.

These are good-news stories of 457 visa holders.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You see, we gave permission.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. In conclusion, I want to mention the issues involving my colleague the Minister for Vocational and Technical Education. The references to him have been quite unreasonable. He referred to the very large refugee program that we have and the desirability of ensuring that those people who do access Australia—(Time expired)

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Your time has expired.

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Jagajaga does not have to help the chair. If she does, she might be dealt with very severely. I closed the minister’s speech down. If the member for Jagajaga wants to stay in the House, she will behave herself.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Attorney-General has just given a good speech on a different MPI. He has just created a very good case for why 457 visas should not be entirely abolished—a good case for it. The problem is that Labor does not think the 457 visa should be abolished. We have never called for that and we never will. You need to have a system of temporary work visas. You do not need a system that is managed—or mismanaged—in the way this one is. You do not need a system where you do not have to advertise a job locally. You do not need a system that allows some people to work side by side with others, doing an identical job to theirs, and to receive half their pay. You do not have to have a system that exploits people.

The situation of Jack Zhang, which has brought us here today, is nothing but exploitation. I find it extraordinary that, in response to our comments, today of all days the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry condemns trade union scaremongering on skilled migration. There is a problem with bringing that out on the day that the case of Jack Zhang is exposed. His employer confirmed every detail. Every detail that the Leader of the Opposition went through a couple of minutes ago was confirmed by the employer. What did the employer then do, having confirmed to a journalist from the Age every one of the details of the exploitation of this worker on a 457 visa? The employer then walked down the road. The journalist followed at a distance and watched as the employer evicted Mr Zhang then and there from his home. That is not some scaremongering campaign. Jack Zhang is a victim of the way the government wants 457 visas to work.

I really wish that I could use the line—because it is not a bad line—that the 457 visa system is out of control. The problem is that it is not. It is doing exactly what this government wants it to do. This government wants to have a system where people are being paid massively less than what current Australian market rates are. The Attorney-General commented just previously, ‘What’s changed in the last two years?’ Have a look at Misha Schubert’s column in the Age today entitled ‘457 visa numbers jump 66 per cent in three years’. We have had a massive increase in the number of people coming in on 457 visas at the same time that the government has ransacked the industrial relations system. These things have happened at the same time in order to open up a huge gap between the market rate being paid in Australia and the new minimum legal rate.

The minimum legal rate under a 457 visa goes at around the $42,000 mark. But the $42,000 mark, in the case of Mr Jack Zhang, is then further cut back. It is $42,000 less the $10,000 you pay to the agent in China and less a further $10,000 that you pay to your employer—to buy a job. $10,000 to buy a job. So, before he starts, already he is not at the $42,000 mark but effectively at the $22,000 mark—only to then find, when it comes to paying for his accommodation, the landlord he is paying is his employer.

What is going on here is a rort from beginning to end. The government wants to have arguments about why we should not get rid of all 457 visas because it wants to keep the whole package. What Labor wants to do is keep the genuine situations of need. It wants to keep the situation where nurses who come in on 457 visas are paid the same as the nurses they are working side by side with, where they are not exploited and where there is a genuine skills shortage—a skills shortage, I might add, that has happened to the states after years of asking and pleading for the federal government to provide more nursing training positions, which the federal government has refused to fund, and then ending up in a situation of having no choice—and, in those circumstances, to use these visas in a way that is not exploitative.

But the visas are open to exploitation and there are employers using them in that fashion. It is bad for the workers who get exploited on those visas. It is bad for the way it drives wages down for the people they are working side by side with. And it is bad for the mainstream, decent Australian employers who will not do that but who find their competitors are behaving that way. They then have to compete in an unfair market because, although they do not want to exploit people from overseas, to get a share of the market they are competing with companies that will.

There are three ways this visa is open to exploitation. The first is the inadequate policing. There is no effective policing at the time of application and, when it comes to the workplace, what policing does occur is completely scattergun. We hear about investigations that are done by the government. When does the investigation happen? When it is raised in parliament by the Labor Party, when it turns up in the mainstream media or when it is raised by a trade union. We do not hear about the cases coming up that have occurred through the normal policing methods of the department of immigration checking on the treatment of people on 457 visas.

The Attorney-General referred to the fact that there are not that many reported cases of abuse. That is not surprising. You do not have to speak English to be able to get the visa—and how likely are you to report exploitation if you are paid even less than what you are legally entitled to and if you believe that your employer has not only a right of dismissal but also an effective right of deportation? You are not going to complain. For the number of cases that get raised in this parliament or get reported to the media, there are many more that come to us anecdotally, come to us from people who work side by side with people who are scared and terrified that if they make a report—if they stand up—they will lose their jobs.

And you wonder why they are scared? Look at what happened to Mr Zhang. Within two minutes of his employer being interviewed by a journalist, he had lost his home. And the Attorney-General says, ‘We can all rest a little bit easier, because not that many cases of abuse get reported.’ That is part of the plan. That is part of the problem. That is why it is just as important for someone to have an English speaking test when they come on permanent migration as it is when they come on temporary migration. You cannot say it is important to get a job one week and the next week turn a blind eye to people who are brought in here without English skills when you know that it is part of the plan to stop them reporting abuse—to turn a blind eye to that when your real excuse is you want this sort of behaviour to occur to drive wages down.

The second problem with this visa goes beyond all issues of policing. There are things which are absolutely unacceptable to the Australian community that are legal under 457 visas. It is completely legal for a job to be advertised only in another country. You can have a job that is never advertised in Australia but is advertised overseas, and someone can come in on a 457 visa claiming shortage of local workforce without there ever being effective labour market testing. There are no effective tests done on skill. Mr Jack Zhang was brought over, and what skill did the employer end up getting him to perform? He was sweeping the floor! It is not being used by unscrupulous employers as a genuine attempt to fill skills shortages.

The third way in which this is being abused is it only respects the new minimum rates under either the immigration system or the new minimum lower rates, without penalty rates, allowed under Work Choices. The Australian market rate is well above that, and it does not take much to work out what happens when you introduce to the workforce some people working at half the rate of others. You do one thing: in those industries and at those workplaces, you drive wages down.

Mr Zhang was evicted, but there is another eviction that should take place. This government will not fix this visa system for the simple reason they believe in how this is happening. They believe in the abuses that are occurring; they want them to happen. Until we get the eviction from this place of the people who sit in the front row on the other side, this problem will not be fixed.

Kim Wilkie (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Wilkie interjecting

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Swan not only is in the wrong seat but has already been warned.

Phillip Barresi (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be able to make a contribution to this matter of public importance on 457 visas, which was brought in today by the opposition. It is another MPI that is based on a false premise. It is a lot of hysterical claims with two objectives: to create fear in the public’s mind and to exploit those very people whom they claim they are attempting to protect through this MPI. Members on the other side cite the case of Mr Jack Zhang. They know all too well that this case is being investigated as we speak. They also know all too well that, if there is anything untoward in this case—if any illegal activity has taken place—then the law will come down against those who perpetrated the illegality.

We find ourselves today with an opposition that has the idea that, if you perpetuate a myth, people will believe it. (Quorum formed) The Leader of the Opposition during this matter of public importance said he wanted to make a commitment that we need migrants in this country who are willing to sign up to Australian values in the workplace. ‘Migrants who are willing to sign up to Australian values in the workplace’ is code for, ‘We need migrants who are willing to sign up to and be exploited by the union movement and be gullible to the exploitation evident there.’ I know this is the case because right now around Australia the Your Rights at Work campaign is out there targeting new migrants. At citizenship ceremonies all around this country, they have decided that they are going in to sign these people up to exploit their fear of coming into a new country by peddling the myths and the fears, something which they do all too well. That is what the Beazley commitment is all about.

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Deakin will refer to members by their correct title.

Phillip Barresi (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition’s commitment is not about signing migrants up to Australian values in the workplace; it is signing them up to the union movement to be exploited. It is a patronising stance by the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party and we have seen far too much of it—going back 50 or 60 years, even going back to the days when my own father came out to this country and in successive generations. It is a relationship which is built on a form of legal servitude in the workplace. Unions are threatening these new citizens to sign up, with the promise of bluer skies if they do so.

The Leader of the Opposition is out of touch on the 457 visa. He has come into this place and attempted to discredit the visa category and yet he is out of touch with his own state and territory colleagues over this particular visa. He claimed on the Sky News Agenda program that states and territories are actively questioning the use of temporary overseas skilled worker visas. That does not stand up to scrutiny. I am informed by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs that less than two months ago all states and territories, along with the Commonwealth, discussed 457 visas at the ministerial council and, in fact, they resolved to support the visas. The council noted in its resolution:

• the critical role of sub-class 457 visas in addressing national and regional skill shortages in some areas and the importance of further developing measures that, while improving protection for temporary skilled migrants, would not materially add cost and delays for employers; and
• the important role of the Regional Certifying Bodies in some jurisdictions in the operation of regional concessions in Sub-Class 457 visa.

The states and territories have been some of the biggest users of 457 visas. As the Prime Minister mentioned yesterday during question time, since January of this year the largest single user of 457 visas was the New South Wales Department of Health. Recently the New South Wales Minister for Health issued a statement where there was a proud declaration made that almost three-quarters of the 1,000 nurses to join the New South Wales health system were as a result of their overseas recruitment drive and 457 visas. We have seen South Australia more than quadruple its state-sponsored skilled migration intake since 2002. Queensland has more than tripled it. Western Australia has nearly tripled it. And the New South Wales and Victorian governments have almost doubled it. The ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have increased their skilled migrant intake by 70 per cent, 50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

There is support for this visa classification all around Australia. It is only the Leader of the Opposition who is beating this issue up into a scare campaign. If there are cases where people are being exploited, then refer them to the authorities and have those cases investigated. Rather than bringing it in here, dragging the person’s name into this chamber and using them for political purposes, pick up the phone and call the respective state or Commonwealth agency to carry out the investigation. That is what the opposition should be doing if they are genuinely interested in the welfare of these migrants who are coming to Australia on these temporary visas. That is what they should be doing rather than exploiting the situations taking place.

Why do we have such a high uptake in the visa classifications these days? The answer is pretty simple. In this country we are going through economic growth which is unprecedented, with the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years and jobs growth of around 180,000 per annum. We know that not only do we have skill shortages but also we are going to have a shortage in available people to fill jobs in due course. The demographics of this country are changing. We are in the same market as every other nation in the world in attracting skilled labour. We are no different.

Are we turning our back on young people and their training? No, we are not. The Leader of the Opposition got up and started talking about providing training programs for nurses and doctors. I am proud to say that only this year the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health and Ageing were able to announce a boost in the number of places for the training of nurses and doctors in my own state of Victoria, at the university just down the road from me, Deakin University, which has a partnership with Box Hill Institute to provide increased training for those in health and paramedical professions. That is why we have had this big uptake of 457 visas. We have a demand for skilled labour and we need to fill that demand today—not in three or four years time when the training has taken place, but right now. (Time expired)

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The discussion is now concluded.