Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This Migration Amendment (Putting Local Workers First) Bill 2016 is about three things: jobs, jobs and jobs. Right now, over 700,000 of our fellow Australians cannot find a job—not even one hour of paid work each week.

More than a million Australians regularly record that they would like more hours of work and more security at work, but they cannot find it. Eight-hundred thousand members of our society are on a disability support pension. This government prefers to criticise and demonise them rather than support them into work.

In our regions, in our country towns and in the suburbs, Australians have been locked out of employment—denied the dignity of work, the security of a decent income and the opportunity to better themselves. This parliament should be working to change that, not with hollow displays of empathy or empty talk of agility but with action. It is why I am asking the parliament to support Labor's plan to put local workers first.

Skills and capacities from overseas will always be a necessary part of our modern, globalised open economy. Currently, I think Australians would be surprised to know there are more than a million visa holders in this country that have some form of work rights. Big parts of our temporary work visa system are being used and abused by dodgy labour-hire firms and unscrupulous employers. These operators are ripping off guest workers, using them as cheap labour to avoid Australian laws, to avoid paying Australian wages and to avoid meeting Australian standards, and, in turn, giving these guests to our country a terrible experience to report on when they return home.

The power of the employer to exploit visa holders is often absolute. We have seen it at Pizza Hut, 7-Eleven and now Caltex. These are not just dodgy subcontractors or backyard outfits; they are multibillion-dollar multinational companies paying people less than half the minimum wage, relying upon pyramid subcontracting and legal artifice and dodge to avoid paying their proper obligations. We all saw the appalling footage just last week of a staff member at 7-Eleven being taken over to the store ATM and made to withdraw money so they could hand back cash to their boss. This is not an oversight or an exception, it is a business model.

No-one wins from this. The vast majority of good employers—businesses doing the right thing—are put at a disadvantage. Australia's international reputation suffers and the wages of all working people are undercut. As someone who has spent their life representing Australians who go to work every day, I will not stand for this. As a party brought forth dedicated to the proposition of a fair day's wage for a fair day's work, we will not stand for this. As an alternative government that believes in a fair go all round, we are proposing action to deal with it.

I am proud that when I was Minister for Workplace Relations we toughened up Australia's 457 visas laws so that employers were required to look locally first. The now Prime Minister, the now Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and the now Treasurer all voted against Labor's sensible changes—they voted against better market testing and more controls in opposition, and they are doing nothing about it in government. It staggers me to hear the discredited Deputy Prime Minister championing these practices in the regions. When youth unemployment is 13 per cent in Townsville, 18 per cent in Armidale and 27 per cent in Cairns it is no wonder that the Nationals are becoming notorious as the sellouts of the bush.

It is no wonder farmers are furious with the mess that the Nats have made of the backpacker tax. It is no wonder the Deputy Prime Minister's personal, erratic intervention has thrown the Murray-Darling Basin agreement into disarray and has enraged his colleagues from the Prime Minister down. It is no wonder that the beleaguered Attorney-General openly debated whether there is any value in being paired with the National Party. What else do we expect from the Deputy Prime Minister—the only man in Australian politics who doctors the Hansard and ends up looking worse!

During the mining boom there were pockets in Australia, including places like Canberra, where unemployment was hovering around four per cent. But the world has changed. The economy has changed since then and our policies need to change with it. When full-time unemployment is on the rise we need to go further. But under the Liberals, the average number of 457 visas granted for cooks each year has more than doubled. Visa grants have increased for bricklayers, carpenters and cafe managers. These 457s are legitimately meant to fill a gap—to bring in specially skilled workers to do jobs an Australian could not do. Instead, we see Australians missing out on jobs, including electricians, motor mechanics, cabinet-makers and joiners. And, at the same time, apprenticeship places have fallen by 130,000.

On this side of the House we know that temporary work visas are not the long-term answer to a national skills shortage. We need a national training agenda. We need to invest in Australians in TAFE-training skills and apprenticeships. And we should not be discouraging our people from learning a trade or from getting a qualification by sending the message that employers can just bring in someone else willing to do the job for less.

This legislation is about supporting the Australian wages system, upholding our standards and creating Australian jobs. It sets more rigorous evidence requirements for labour market testing for firms to use 457 visas; a mandatory requirement for jobs to be advertised for a minimum of four weeks; a requirement for labour market testing to occur no more than four months before the nomination of the visa worker position; a ban on job ads that target only overseas workers or specified visa class holders to the detriment of locals; and a crackdown on job ads that set unrealistic requirements for vacant positions and are specifically designed to exclude locals.

If employers genuinely need a 457 visa holder for their business they should have to provide evidence information to prove it. We simply ask employers to show the need for a nominated occupation and to prove that none of these positions can be filled by Australians. Employers will be required to document their recruitment efforts, including the wage rates the job was advertised at and any relocation assistance offered to Australian workers.

Today, I am asking the parliament to support a new Australian jobs test. The Australian jobs test would mean that before the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection approves any labour market agreement they would need: to consider whether the agreement supports or creates Australian jobs; a labour market needs statement provided by the employer demonstrating why they need to use the temporary skilled migration; a training plan adopted by the employer showing how they will improve the skills of local workers; whether the visa workers will be able to transfer skills to Australian workers; and the employer's plan to support 457 visa workers during their stay in Australia, including information about workplace entitlements and community services. The Australian jobs test would apply for the life of the agreement. It would be an additional safeguard to labour market testing, not a substitute for it.

The quality of Australian work and the safety in Australian workplaces is a first-order priority for the Labor Party and, indeed, for the labour movement. This legislation raises the standards of 457 visa workers in occupations where it is mandatory for Australians to hold a licence, registration or membership. For example, in trades such as the electrical or plumbing occupations, where workers must hold state and territory occupational licences, our new system would simply require visa applicants in these occupations who hold a passport from a nominated country either to hold the relevant licence when they apply for the visa or to undertake a mandatory skills assessment to demonstrate that they can meet the standards, professionalism and safety required to obtain the licence. These standards must be met before the minister grants the visa.

The new visa conditions spelt out in this legislation would require 457 visa holders in licensed occupations not to perform the occupation before obtaining a licence, or to obtain the licence within 60 days of arriving in Australia; not to engage in any working consistent with the licence or its conditions; and to notify the department proactively of any changes to their licence.

I understand that it is not traditional for an opposition to put forward concrete legislation like this so early in the term of a government, but someone has to do it! It might be easy for us to sit back and complain, to try to garner a dividend from the government's inadequacy. This issue is too important for that. People doing it tough should not have to wait three years for this parliament to wake up and to hear their concerns to act. It is a chance for our parliament to do its job.

This government cannot have it both ways; it cannot complain about Labor raising these issues and also try to undermine Labor for raising these issues in trying to stand up for Australian standards. We recognise that guest workers are part of the Australian economy but we also recognise that the parliament should focus on making sure that we give our own unemployed and our own underemployed the best possible chance and the best start in life. Unlike the government, who come to this issue belatedly, in the Labor Party we know where we stand and we mean what we say. We are proud of our globalised economy but we are also proud of having policies which say that you buy Australian, you build Australian and you employ Australian. I commend this bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.