Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am aggrieved by this government's out-of-touch budget. It is a divided government and it is a dysfunctional government. The government says there are better days ahead, but then the Prime Minister turns around and hands a tax cut to millionaires and a tax hike for every working Australian. As the shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection I am aggrieved not only by this government's budget generally but by the ill-conceived and poorly planned policy relating to immigration and border protection.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has been handed scathing report after scathing report in the last year, all detailing mismanagement committed under the watch of the current Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, a tick-and-flick minister very far removed from the detail of his department. The Australian National Audit Office Auditor-General's report, Offshore processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea: procurement of garrison support and welfare services, is littered with instances of errors and mistakes by the former immigration minister, who is now Treasurer, as well as by the current immigration minister.

The second scathing ANAO report was Offshore processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea: contract management of garrison support and welfare services, tabled in January of this year. The report found as to payments that:

… $1.1 billion was approved by DIBP officers who did not have the required authorisation; and for the remaining $1.1 billion there was no departmental record of who authorised the payments.

Rounding out the trifecta of condemnation from the ANAO is the report The Australian Border Force's use of statutory powers. It found the Australian Border Force had conducted unlawful and inappropriate searches of passengers at international airports, routinely questioning people without documenting their legal authority to do so. The Australian Border Force officers had used coercive powers without completing the required training. All this dysfunction is even before we even delve into the downfalls found in this year's budget and their impacts on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection portfolio.

I am aggrieved at how this government's budget hurts every Australian family. It fails to put Australian jobs first or to guarantee genuine investment in skills and training. The government rushed to make their announcement on changes to temporary skilled migration. The minister's 457 visa announcement has since proved to be a con job. Eighteen occupations which had not been used in the previous 10 years were removed from the government's list of occupations, including deer farmers and detectives. The government wants to be congratulated for its apparent crackdown, but its changes barely make a difference to those local people struggling to get a job. The minister did not even undertake appropriate consultation with businesses and the government has been besieged by industry, pointing out the unintended consequences of its changes—especially in the area of science and research. Departmental officials confirmed flaws within the government's own policy in Senate estimates, with the secretary of the department conceding, 'There have been consequences we need to work through.'

The Turnbull government is all over the place on temporary skilled migration, and is already walking away from its so-called 457 crackdown by planning to add jobs to its skilled migration visa list. The minister and the Prime Minister have been very quiet in relation to their botched announcement as it begins to unravel, forcing others to concede the government's own shortfalls. A spokesperson for the communication minister was quoted in The Australian Financial Review on 17 May:

The list will be updated on 1 July and thereafter twice annually, to ensure it reflects genuine skills gaps and to address any unintended consequences.

The government's Skilling Australia Fund is also a con job, with funds for skills and training dependent on bringing in overseas workers.

The Skilling Australia Fund replaces the National Partnership Agreement on Skills Reform. This is simply a name change as they attempt to veil a cut by the government by stealth. In reality, it sees a cut of more than $166 million from skills and training in 2017-18 alone, and over $600 million in cuts across the forward estimate period by the Turnbull government.

Only Labor will crack down on 457 visa rorts and build a skilled Australian workforce, reducing our reliance on overseas workers to fill skill shortages. Labor is the only party serious about getting Australians properly trained and into good and local jobs. Only Labor's proposed SMART visa will ensure that educators, innovators and researchers of global standing, the best and brightest, will have the opportunity to develop their ideas in Australia.

The Turnbull government announced their 'lodge or leave' policy on 21 May, with the minister grandstanding with his claims of 'fake refugees'. This was the first time that we heard of the government's arbitrary deadline of 1 October for asylum seekers living in Australia to lodge their applications, a deadline which the government has not even attempted to justify or to give a rationale for. Estimates also revealed that this government's budget modelling is based on estimates that 2,500 asylum seekers will lose benefits in 2017-18. The immigration minister should be upfront about the impact of these budget measures and not simply try to hide them in the back of the budget book. As for the minister's claims of fake refugees, it is a claim that I note he has failed to repeat since he pulled it out on the soapbox on 21 May.

I am disappointed in this government's budget. This continues in relation to the cuts to jobs in the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The budget papers claim that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection is set to lose 245 staff in the coming financial year. But the devil is always in the detail. The previous budget, 2016-17, stated that the department was going to cut its average staffing level number by 305, but Senate estimates showed that the department has actually cut 509 employees from its workforce since 1 July 2016. That is 509 employees who can no longer process visas, no longer crack down on visa rorts and no longer protect our borders. It is simply not good enough. It is no wonder that visa-processing time frames have been blowing out. Senate estimates confirms the processing times for visas have ballooned out between July 2016 and 2017. Given their track record over the last year, how many employees are really going to be slashed from the department this coming year? The cuts have already struck home in Sydney at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection's Sydney service centre, where more than 220 departmental employees take calls about visas and citizenship and respond to other compliance queries. The Community and Public Sector Union's national president, Rupert Evans, shared the concerns of the employees themselves, saying:

They're concerned not just at losing their jobs, but the serious security and other risks posed by farming their work out for the private sector to chase a profit.

I am aggrieved by these cuts to the department, not only because of their impact on visa-processing services and border protection but because of their impact on those individuals who lose their jobs and their families. It is no wonder there is widespread low morale throughout the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, as reported by the ABC in the last couple of days. A survey asking departmental staff to rate the leadership skills of their bosses and reflect on their overall job satisfaction showed results 'significantly lower' than any other Australian Public Service results. An internal review of the survey said:

Staff have become increasingly disassociated from the department's culture and achievements and its leadership.

Departmental staff feel as though their work is not being valued or that they are not being listened to, and it all harks back to the lack of leadership by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the member for Dickson.

Following the cybersecurity follow-up audit by the Australian National Audit Office, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection conceded in Senate estimates it is not cyber-resilient, nor is it cybersecure. Departmental officials revealed immigration is regularly a target for cyberattacks. I am aggrieved as to how the minister has allowed a situation where his department has repeatedly failed to comply with the top four mitigation strategies and to meet its cyber-resilience deadlines. Its original target date to achieve compliance was 30 June 2014. That is three years of putting the personal data of Australian citizens and international travellers at risk, at a time when cybersecurity should be of utmost priority. The minister cannot afford to sit on his hands any longer and needs to ensure the department is cyber-resilient and the personal information of Australians and international travellers is not compromised.

It is simply not good enough. Who can ever forget the government's failure to deliver the fast-response boats, which have been delayed yet again, to the people of Cairns and the Torres Strait? The minister, the department and this government should simply do much better in the area of immigration and border protection.