Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Will the minister update the House on action the coalition government is taking to ensure that Australians have the best opportunity of getting a job and maintaining it? Is the minister aware of any alternatives that fail to support this approach?

Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for La Trobe for his question and for his tireless advocacy for the people of Dandenong, Berwick, Beaconsfield, Narre Warren and other suburbs which he looks after. The key priority of the Turnbull government is to ensure that all Australians have the best opportunity to get a job. The first step towards that is to grow the economy so that there are as many jobs as possible for Australians to acquire. We've got a great track record on that front, as we've heard just today. The second step is to ensure that Australians have the opportunity of taking those jobs and only taking in overseas workers when absolutely necessary. Consequently, we've reformed the 457 visa program to achieve that end.

The result of all of that work is actually quite impressive. We've heard today about the record jobs growth—400,000 jobs last year and 16 consecutive months of jobs growth. But, alongside that, we know that Australians have been stepping up and taking those jobs, and we know that because under this government the welfare queues are now at their lowest levels—as a proportion of working-age population—in 25 years. So Australians are stepping up and taking the jobs that are available. The third part of that is we've had fewer people from overseas needed to come into the country on 457s to fill those job shortages.

I'm asked about the alternatives in relation to job creation and Australians stepping up and taking those jobs. We know that the alternative is stark, because, under the former Labor government, when the Leader of the Opposition was workplace relations minister, he was actually the gold medallist in issuing 457 visas to people from overseas to come and take these jobs. It would be one thing to be the gold medallist in issuing 457 visas if the labour market was very, very tight and there was almost nobody in the welfare queues. But, when you actually look at the data, the welfare queues grew by an incredible 250,000 people on his watch. That is the equivalent of people lining up from here to Goulburn. That's the additional number of people added to the welfare queue. And, at the same time that that welfare queue was going from here to Goulburn, he was bringing in 130,000 people on 457s.

Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That doesn't make sense.

Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That does not make sense, as the Attorney-General just pointed out. The question is: why does the Leader of the Opposition hate Australian workers so much? We know when he was a union leader he cut their salaries. He cut their salaries when he was a union leader. And, when he was workplace relations minister, he brought in overseas workers to take Australian jobs. (Time expired)