Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Where do I begin? Let me start with Senator Evans, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Some weeks ago, when questioning Senator Vanstone, Senator Evans created a case which was false in every line and every element: the caravan case. They are all blushing over there because I have mentioned the 457 visa case that Senator Evans raised which was utterly false. He misrepresented the facts when he said that unskilled workers had been brought in to work in a caravan park, when in fact those unskilled workers were the family of the skilled worker who was brought into this country. Senator Evans conveniently left out that particular fact. And that was not enough. Senator Evans decided that the classification of the job was ‘caravan worker’ when in fact it was ‘caravan manager’. I would be surprised if he did not know that. The position of a caravan manager is a skilled position.

It was not too long before Senator Ludwig gave the game up when he dovetailed this whole debate into the industrial relations debate. That is the key to the reason that the Labor Party continually raise this issue in the parliament. They are seeking to put fear into the minds of Australian workers by making them think that a foreigner is going to take their job and that they are going to experience lower wages—when nothing could be further from the truth. The facts are on the board: after millions of dollars have been spent, the Labor Party’s industrial relations campaign is already petering out. Spend some more—go right ahead; you have got 12 months before the next election to sell your case. I can tell you now: it is petering out, because the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The unemployment rate is 4.8 per cent and heading down, and wages are increasing. They increased in the last quarter and, as we know, over the past 10 years they have increased some 16.8 per cent.

The government reject that 457 visas are an instrument for cheap labour. It is quite the contrary. We are able to separate the abuses—and there are some. As Senator Vanstone has stated, we have followed them up with vigour on every occasion, including the case that the Age reported with regard to a Hawthorn printing company. The worker himself reported the case. I do not know where the union was at the time, but the worker had the wit to report the case to the department. The very next day, the department interviewed the workers concerned, and the case is now under investigation—as is the ABC Tissues case. Those cases will be investigated vigorously.

We are able to separate the few abuses of this worthwhile visa program—which meets the short-term skills shortages of Australia—from the absolute merit of the program. No Australian will be put aside because of this program; no Australian will have lower wages because of this program. It does meet a particular need and the states support it. Why don’t you go back to Western Australia or New South Wales and tell the premiers that you are not in favour of this scheme? Tell them that you are in here sullying the scheme with beat-up cases. (Time expired)