Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (Senator Vanstone) to questions without notice asked by Senators Ludwig and George Campbell today relating to the 457 visa program.

We have again heard horror stories about employer abuse of 457 visas, but they are now continuing to pile up. It is one upon the next, upon the next. What is now more disturbing is that they are becoming more serious and more shocking as they come out. When you look at the number of 457 visas, you will see that they have increased by 66 per cent over the last two years. We have had a rise in the number of 457 visas. The 457 visa concept itself is a good initiative, but this government is making an art form of how to abuse it or how to let employers abuse it.

Today the employer sanctions bill went through, but it has a six-month introduction time before it will start to impact upon this situation. I would suggest that this government prefers that long delay so that employers can continue to abuse it. What also concerns me is that there are reports in the Age today about a person who came to Australia on a 457 visa. He first had to pay nearly $10,000 to an employment agency in China. When he got to Australia there was another $10,000 debt waiting for him which he had to repay to the employer. Those types of abuses are starting to not only be more widespread but be reflected in the media. This is a government that is not addressing the problems directly. This is a government which is allowing people to be grossly underpaid in this area, at a rate below the federal minimal award and where penalties are also seemingly not paid.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union calculated that that man was underpaid by nearly $400 a week based on the award rate and industry standards. You then have a situation where this person starts to be $1,100 out of pocket. The government’s answer to this is: other people in the other area might also have been underpaid. But that is not an answer to the 457 visa; it is a reflection, more likely, on the inability of this government to ensure compliance with its own laws more generally not only in the migration area but also in the Work Choices area, in their industrial relations laws or in their occupational health and safety laws. It seems to be a government that much prefers laws not to be obeyed. It will not ensure compliance because it is more convenient to ensure people get these types of jobs to help employers out. But it is not an aberration; it is a system showing the hallmark of a system out of control.

This is not how 457 visas were supposed to operate. They were intended to be used as part and parcel of a proper immigration system, but it is breaking down significantly. The aim of the Howard government’s extreme workplace relations legislation is to work hand-in-glove with Work Choices and 457 visas to drive down the wages and conditions of Australian workers. We also have the controversy surrounding the ABC Tissues work site where foreign workers employed on 457 visas were not covered by workers compensation insurance and could not fundamentally speak or read English, therefore safety signs and emergency procedures could not be followed. The government must ensure that these matters are addressed, but I do not think they want them addressed. I do not think it is a government that seriously wants these issues dealt with. When you look at the requirements for 457 visas, there is no requirement to test whether there are actual skills shortages in those areas before a company can access these visas. There is no requirement to check whether there is a glut of graduates such as in the IT sector. Even in that area, it seems to say it is okay to import foreign workers to do the work. (Time expired)