Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday I was asked:

Can the minister confirm information from her department on occupations filled by 457 visa holders that 43 waiters, 77 domestic housekeepers, 251 personal assistants and 1,594 elementary clerical workers entered Australia on the visa last year?

As a consequence of that, I asked Senator Evans, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate: ‘What are you talking about? Are you talking about visas granted? Are you talking about workers? Are you talking about flow? Are you talking about stock?’ The answer I got was: ‘It’s off your website.’ So I undertook to have a look at it. No wonder I got a bemused look from Senator Evans: he had none of the above. He actually had some sort of flow data which shows how many people with a 457 visa have come in and gone out of Australia in any one year. They may have come in and out two or three times on a holiday. They are not necessarily the workers. They might be the wives and they might be the children. So they are the workers, the families and the children crossing the border in 2005.