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

My question is to Senator Vanstone, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Can the minister confirm that her department is negotiating a labour agreement with the meat industry in relation to temporary foreign workers? Will the minister commit to inserting an hourly rate for temporary foreign workers employed in the meat industry in that agreement?

Haven’t employers asked for such an hourly rate to be included, as a significant step towards stamping out the exploitation of temporary foreign workers in the industry? And why hasn’t the government acted already to make this change to protect temporary foreign workers and stop the abuse of the program? Will the minister also rule out approving any sub-agreement negotiated with individual employers that waters down the conditions or reduces the pay rate contained in the industry-wide agreement?