Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware of reports in the media today of 457 visa holders signing unfair contracts to obtain the visa? Isn’t it the case that under such a contract Mr Fu, from China, was forced to pay more than $20,000 to his Australian employer and had to arrange his own travel for a $38,000 job? Isn’t it the case that the 457 visa program is out of control, or is it doing exactly what you want: driving down wages and conditions?

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

I have read those media reports. If anybody has been forced to sign a contract which signs away or purports to sign away that person’s right to join a union then that is illegal and those responsible should be prosecuted. It has long been the position of this side of politics that the right to belong or not to belong to a union should be sacrosanct. It has never really been the policy of the Labor Party that the right not to belong to a union is sacrosanct. I mean, you cannot be a Labor member of parliament without belonging to a union, so do not come into this place and start giving us a lecture about freedom of association.

The 457 visa system has brought forth one of the most spectacular contemporary examples of Labor Party double standards and Labor Party hypocrisy. In here every day in the parliament they are up on their feet saying these 457 visas are an outrage. They are saying that every day, yet behind the scenes, away from the glare of the national parliament, their Labor mates at a state level are falling over themselves to recruit—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Oh, yes they are! You ought to go home to Western Australia and find out what the Western Australian government is doing. It is begging the minister for immigration to grant more 457 visas. The biggest single user of 457 visas is the New South Wales health department. The last time I checked, unfortunately New South Wales still had a Labor government and has had a Labor government now for nine or 10 years. So I simply say to those who sit opposite: do not parade your hypocrisy on this issue. You are being utterly opportunistic. You do not care about the human rights of migrants; you are just interested in a cheap political point of no substance.