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

Yes, it is. The point being made, however, is that, when you get a document which is headed with something, you usually say, ‘What does that mean?’ When you see an asterisk at the bottom and you see that it says, ‘Contains figures which are subject to sampling variability; too high for most practical purposes,’ you usually say to someone, ‘Could you tell me what this means?’

I will tell you what it means. This means that, of all the people who hold 457 visas in any one year, who might come in and out—there might be a number of years of 457 visas here—and who are travelling for one purpose or another, there is some sampling done. That is what that information at the bottom means. You understand what sampling means. There is some sampling done with passenger information cards. On passenger information cards people write down their occupations. It would be no surprise to me if the partner of a 457 worker had put ‘Home duties’. It would be no surprise to me at all. It is perfectly acceptable for people to take those sorts of jobs. What this document shows you, Senator Evans, if you had bothered to ask—