Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Sponsorship and Nomination Processes) Bill 2024 has the following aspects: it establishes the legislative framework for a new temporary skilled worker visa, the skills in demand visa; it also creates the income thresholds and indexation for the proposed streams of that visa; and it streamlines labour market testing requirements and provides for a register of approved work sponsors.

The provisions of the bill have been referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 2 September 2024. So far, the inquiry has received 20 submissions, and we are currently going through all those submissions because, obviously, getting this process right is incredibly important. This piece of legislation redefines how we will bring people into this country and, in particular, how we will bring the necessary skills that we need into this country.

The problem so far is that everything that the Albanese Labor government has done in the last two years when it comes to immigration has been a complete and unholy mess. We want to make sure that this doesn't become a complete and unholy mess like everything else they've touched. While we generally support the thrust of the bill, we are, obviously, looking also at putting forward what we think are very necessary amendments. That will take place in the Senate because the bill will be presented to us before the Senate inquiry has taken place and before it has finalised its report and provided its recommendations. We want to wait and see what that Senate inquiry process throws up and then look at what amendments we will put in place to make sure that the huge mess the government has made in immigration doesn't continue to get bigger and bigger.

In fact, today we saw that the former Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs made such a mess of the release of the detainees after the NZYQ case that at least 83 detainees were roaming freely in the community, some of them hardened criminals, including murderers, sex offenders and child sex offenders, with no visas and no visa conditions, even though he had quite clearly said to the House that all the detainees were released with visa conditions. We want to make sure that this isn't just another mess.

We've obviously seen the mess with numbers. The NOM has continued to blow out every time the government puts a target in place. Amid a housing and rental crisis, we're seeing huge numbers of people coming into this country, numbers we've never seen, record after record, and yet, when it comes to the skills we need to build houses—the carpenters, the plumbers and the tilers—it seems as though the CFMEU have had their way. Those skilled workers aren't coming in to complement the trades and tradespeople we already have here in Australia to make sure that we can build those houses, put downward pressure on rent, and not take the dream away from young people to own their homes. It will be very interesting to see what the new Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Home Affairs can do to fix up the unholy mess that has been made in immigration. His track record from the last time he was in the portfolio does not bode well, but we wish him well. It's incredibly important that someone with some sense of competence come along and try and fix up what is happening in that area.

What concerns are already being raised with us? There are concerns about the process of determining if an occupation is on the relevant skilled occupation list. So far, it seems they are being plucked out of thin air. We have to make sure that there is a proper process for how an occupation is on the relevant skilled occupation list. For example, when we have a huge demand for the building of houses, you would hope that all the relevant occupations in that area would be on the occupation list, but, so far, we do not see any sort of methodical process into how the skilled occupation list is put in play. This list is meant to specify occupations for the eligibility for a range of skilled visas, both permanent and temporary. It is aimed at identifying occupations where there are skills gaps in the Australian labour market—that is, it's essential to making sure that you have a well-run immigration system and that you identify where the skills shortages are and then seek to fill those skills shortages. We haven't seen anything that even resembles a process for putting that skilled occupation list together. That is one area that we'll be looking at very closely.

The second thing we want to look at is how quickly the skilled occupation list will be able to be changed to respond to changes in certain occupations. How will one list address geographic skills gaps? There might be skills gaps in one part of the country but not in another country. And how quickly will the list be able to be adjusted to seasonal requirements? These are really important points. For instance, if you bring record numbers of people, the likes of which we've never seen, into this country in two years, like the Albanese Labor government has done, and you're doing that in a housing crisis, can you change your skilled occupation list to make sure that we can complement those tradies here in Australia, who already do a fantastic job but are fully stretched, to be able to help and support them to build the houses that we need? When we've got a skills gap, for instance, in the shearing industry, what can we do in certain areas of the country where shearing is very important to make sure that we've got the skills shortages addressed in that area which might not be relevant in other parts of Australia? These are the types of things we will want to look at very, very carefully.

How well will the skilled occupation list cater for the different employment needs across regional areas? This is simply unknown. One of the problems that we seem to be always having with the Albanese Labor government is that they seem to think that the regions don't exist. It's all about the capital cities, but, as they should be aware, and as we've told them plenty of times, different regions have different needs, and that's something else that we want to make sure that we're looking at. These are real concerns, and employers are raising these concerns with us. It is unknown how well Jobs and Skills Australia will function and respond to the needs of the employment market. All that needs to be fleshed out.

It is also unknown what influence the unions will have on shaping the jobs that are listed on the skilled occupation lists. We all know about the CFMEU; it's flavour of the month. I know it's been of great surprise to the Labor Party, but they're the only ones in Australia who it's been of great surprise to, that the tactics of the CFMEU have once again been brought to light, and all those opposite seem to be completely shocked by this, whereas everyone else has known what's been going on for many years. How has their influence impacted the government in restricting the number of builders, plumbers, electricians, tilers et cetera who are able to get onto the skills list? What is being done to make sure that we're complementing those who are trying to build our houses at the moment? That's just one example.

The other thing that the government has done is increase the temporary skilled migration income threshold from $53,900 to $70,000 from 1 July 2023, and it is now indexing it. When the government announced the increase in the TSMIT to $70,000, there were concerns raised by employers, particularly in regional Australia, that foreign workers would then be paid more than their Australian workers, which obviously can be very unsatisfactory in a workplace. So what is happening in that area? We'll be very interested to hear from employer groups on that as part of the Senate inquiry process. The level of the TSMIT is now higher than many awards, so we have a situation where the foreign worker would get paid more than an Australian worker receiving award wages. This situation may get worse as indexation takes place.

Exploring what impact that's having in the workplace and what Australian workers are thinking of this will also be something that we'll be seeking to flesh out as part of the Senate inquiry. With real wages being thumped here in Australia by the Albanese Labor government—I'll say that again: real wages are being thumped by the Albanese Labor government—I just wonder how poor, hardworking Australians will deal with the fact that those coming in from overseas will be getting higher wages than they will be getting and what that means for workplaces. So that will be something that we will want to explore as well.

In summary, the opposition will allow this bill through the House. We will wait for the Senate inquiry to report. We will look at its recommendations and, in particular, some of those key areas that I have outlined. Then it's highly likely we'll be seeking to put amendments forward to this bill to ensure that its passage leads to the right outcomes—that is, making sure that we build a better Australia, not a big Australia, which is the Albanese Labor government approach.

Debate adjourned.

Leave granted for second reading debate to resume at a later hour.