Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Sterle quite clearly should have applied for those jobs, but he could not compete with the skills requirement, so they had to import people from overseas to do the jobs which otherwise Senator Sterle might do.

This government, and I thank Senator Vanstone for her part in it, has presided over an economy which has seen the highest wages across the board for workers in Australia and, of course, the highest employment figures practically in history—certainly in the last 30 years. Each quarter new jobs are created by this government, unemployment continues to fall and it is because of the adroitness of the government that we have this situation—a situation which is almost bordering on overfull employment. It is for this reason that this 457 visa is so very necessary for Australia and so well appreciated by those businesses in Australia desperately seeking skilled employment.

I have mentioned in this chamber a number of times the critical shortage of workers at a goat processing factory in Charleville and another factory next door which processes kangaroos and wild pigs. They cannot get labour into those areas. They have been able to access, through the 457 visas, some Vietnamese families who have put in a fantastic effort there, side by side with Australian-born and Australian-naturalised workers and Indigenous workers—all working together in those processing factories in a very cooperative and worthwhile way. They get paid award wages. They get the same wages as Australian-born or naturalised workers who work next door to them.

This whole scheme is implemented with the right sorts of conditions and requirements to ensure there is no exploitation. Exploitation does occur and has occurred, and it is a credit to the minister and her department that these rare cases of exploitation have been followed up. They have been dealt with efficiently by the department and by the minister. There are some problems at times but the arrangement of the scheme is such that these can be followed through and addressed, and that is what is so very important in the scheme. The 457 scheme is a great credit to this government, as are the wages paid to all employees and the employment levels in Australia at the moment. I can only conclude by again congratulating Senator Vanstone on the way she administers a difficult portfolio and administers it so well. I thank again Senator Evans for his endorsement of the government’s policy and his endorsement of Senator Vanstone and her department.