Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. My question went to your quote, Minister, in the Australian Financial Review today that ‘there were some irregularities with the payments they were making to visa holders that required attention’. I again ask the minister: what were those irregularities? Is the minister completely satisfied that the 24 foreign workers engaged by ABC Tissue are being paid and treated properly? Does the minister know whether these workers are being paid at at least the minimum hourly award rate and working no more than 38 hours a week at the normal rate of pay? If not, doesn’t this mean that the unnamed company executive quoted in the article is right when they say, about the use of guest workers, ‘This is just an attempt to drive down wages’?