Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked today.

In doing so I want to concentrate on the response of Senator Vanstone to questions relating to the subclass 457 visas. I would like to say at the outset that I very much enjoyed the minister’s theatrical performance in response to the dorothy dixer she got. She is very good at it. Some of the best comedy routines I have seen have been performed by the minister. But the key issue is whether or not she is meeting her responsibilities as a minister in dealing with the hard policy issues. On two occasions today, and once yesterday, I asked the minister to give an assurance that she was satisfied with the performance of her department in administering the subclass 457 visas. On each occasion the minister refused to endorse the department’s actions. The minister has refused to state that she believes the visa system is being administered properly and that there are not major flaws with the scheme.

What we have seen from the minister, time and time again, are these sorts of dismissive, theatrical performances—but she fails to answer the key questions. When she is confronted with the shocking examples of abuse of the subclass 457 visas—of workers being forced to pay $10,000 to come to this country; of workers being underpaid, exploited or working without proper safety conditions; of workers being required to operate in areas where they do not have the skills—she has no answer except to say that the fact that the complaints are being raised proves that the system is working. Have you ever heard anything more bizarre? The fact that there is example after example of workers being exploited under the 457 visa system is proof that the system is working. I do not know what planet she is from, but it does not make any sense to me and it does not make any sense to anybody following these issues. What she is saying is that the complaints system is working. I do not think that is right either. She failed to answer the questions asked of her today relating to the inordinately long time it took for the department to intervene in a range of cases—answers, incidentally, that Mr Ruddock was prepared to deal with over the last couple of days in the other place. He is obviously better informed on these matters than the minister.

I think it actually highlights the fact that she is not prepared to engage in the detail. She is not prepared to defend the department. She is not prepared to defend the department’s administration of the scheme, because she knows that, as in so many other areas in the experience of the department of immigration, there will be serious problems. We know there are serious problems. We have the stories in the papers of the serious problems in the way these people have been exploited. The minister will not engage with the detail. She is dismissive of any attempt to engage with the question of whether or not these people have been exploited.

I support the 457 visa system in the sense that it allows skilled workers to come to this country. But I do not support a system that allows exploitation of foreign workers. I do not support a system that allows the importation of labour into areas where there are not skill shortages in this country. And I do not support a system that allows people to work in unsafe conditions doing jobs that they do not have the skills for. I certainly do not support a system that ignores the training needs of young Australians in order to bring people in to do the jobs that they could do. We do need skilled workers. We do need to bring them in to fill the skills shortages. But we need to administer that properly. We need to ensure that they get justice. We need to ensure also that it is not part of a broader attempt by the government—which Minister Vanstone admitted was part of her motivation—to drive down Australian wages and to put pressure on Australian wages.

The minister let it slip out a month or two ago that one of the advantages of the 457 system was that it allowed downward pressure on Australian wages. So not only does it export foreign workers, but it actually helps to lower the wages received by Australian workers and prevents training Australians to take up skills. The minister has to engage and answer for the administration of the scheme. She cannot just go on pulling stunts. She has failed to answer key questions. She has still refused to provide me with the information regarding the occupations of principal applicants under the 457 visa system. She says I am wrong with the list I got from the Parliamentary Library. Let her produce the real list. Let her come clean. (Time expired)