Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Vanstone, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Is the minister aware that in 2000, when allegations were raised that businesses were starting to bring in temporary overseas workers to meet skills shortages, the then minister for employment rejected those allegations? Didn’t the then employment minister, Peter Reith, not only downplay those claims but also state that the government was ‘seriously committed’ to increasing training opportunities to ensure we had the skills needed? Can the minister now explain why it is that, six years on, the skills shortage has worsened? Haven’t Peter Reith’s claims about the government’s serious commitment to training proved hollow, with 300,000 people being turned away from TAFE? And why is it that instead of maintaining its commitment to training locals to meet this shortage, the government is now encouraging employers to import skilled guest workers?