Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Will the minister update the House on how the government is maximising job opportunities for hardworking Australians? Why is it important to ensure that Australia has a well-managed migration program?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forde for his question. He is a champion for small businesses. He is a great local member and he defends small businesses. He wants to create extra jobs for young Australians in his electorate. And he should be commended for it. In fact, every person on this side of the House wants to grow business so that they can employ more young Australians and more Australians into those jobs.

I can report to the House that, in terms of 457 visa holders, the number has fallen by around 13,000 since this government came to office in September 2013. We have put into action our words. We have said that we want to put Australians first and that we want to put Australians into jobs. That is the policy of this government. If you look at the words and actions of this Leader of the Opposition, it is very hard to reconcile the two. He says one thing to the Australian public and he does the complete opposite. He does the complete opposite because he is a well-known fraud not only in this place but across workplaces across the country.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will withdraw.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw, Mr Speaker. The point about this Leader of the Opposition is: you cannot look at his words; you need to have a look at his actions. What happened was, when he was the employment minister in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, the 457 visas ballooned during his period of leadership. You need to look at what he is saying in this question time and in the public at the moment in relation to penalty rates. It is interesting to note that in relation to the Clean Event circumstance, where he was in the AWU at the time, he presided over an arrangement where casual cleaning workers were paid $18.14 and hour when under the award—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will resume his seat. The Manager of Opposition Business, on a point of order.

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

Mr Speaker, on direct relevance, the Minister for Immigration has now gone completely off the question. He is responding to a note the Deputy Prime Minister just handed him that has nothing to do with what has been asked.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will keep listening to the minister. I think the minister is in order, but I will listen carefully for the remaining minute. Members on my left do not help by interjecting when the Manager of Opposition Business has made a point of order on their behalf and I am seeking to address the matter.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was asked about job opportunities for hard-working Australians. The reality is that when this Leader of the Opposition was a union boss pretending to protect workers, he did the complete opposite: he presided over an arrangement in relation to Cleanevent where those workers were entitled to $50.17 per hour under the award. The deal that he brokered as the union leader, pretending to represent the interests of those workers, ended in those workers being paid $18.14 an hour. This man is the great false pretender of Australian politics. The Australian public is seeing through him. They have seen that in relation to 457 visas. Where he pretends to be the friend of workers, he is the complete opposite. He has been involved in deal after deal after deal where workers have come off second best. It is a case in relation to 457 visas, and certainly it was the case when he was a trade union leader.