Linda Kirk (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to speak to Senator Hurley’s motion, which refers to answers given to questions asked of Senator Vanstone this afternoon in question time. Senator Vanstone made reference to the government’s system of temporary work visas known as 457 visas. What we have seen over the last couple of days, particularly in a story that emerged yesterday, is yet another example of foreign workers, in this case workers from the Philippines, being exploited by Australian companies. I am sure that most people are familiar with the program that appeared last night, but what has happened in this case is that three Filipino workers on 457 visas have been sacked for joining a union and another five have been threatened with the same fate by the company which employs them.

The Filipino workers that I refer to are welders and were brought to Australia by a Brisbane company which promised to pay them more than $40,000 per annum, but as a consequence of various deductions being taken from their pay this has now been reduced to just $27,000. It was quite disturbing to see on the program last evening that accommodation payments that were being deducted from their salary amounted to $175 per week for each of the workers. All eight of them were living in the same house and all were paying $175 a week for the privilege of such accommodation. I also understand that there were deductions made from their wages in order to pay for their transport from their home to their workplace. This, of course, also contributed to the reduction in their salary.

What emerges from this example is a pattern that we are seeing time and time again with the misuse of these 457 visas. I have spoken before in this place about the way that 457 visas are being abused and the urgent need for a full-ranging inquiry into the use of 457 visas. What we can see, and this is a very good example, is that 457 visas are being used simply to drive wages down—to drive them down deliberately and drive them down rapidly.

Of course, it is the case that foreign workers are especially vulnerable to exploitation because their employer effectively acts as their migration agent. The agents have what the workers perceive to be the power to remove them from the country if they do not do as they are told. It has emerged that this was the case with these Filipino workers: they were threatened that they would be removed from the country if they did not work more quickly.

This also has to be seen in the recent context of the new workplace relations laws—‘Work Choices’, as the legislation is apparently called—and the impact of this new legislation in conjunction with these 457 visas. What has emerged is that now, when employees attempt to negotiate with their employer, not only will they miss out on the job if they refuse to sign the AWA that is presented to them but they will also miss out on a visa—in this case a 457 visa, which entitles these workers to stay in our country and to work.

Of course, these are people who are the least likely to report any abuses because they believe that their employer has not only the right to dismiss them but also the right to deport them if they make complaints. These people are incredibly vulnerable workers and for the visa holder to be exploited in the manner that is occurring is absolutely wrong, and similarly it is wrong to see the knock-on effect to the Australian workforce as a whole. It is imperative that there be an inquiry into 457 visas, and I am pleased to say that the Joint Standing Committee on Migration is looking very carefully at conducting an inquiry into 457 visas in the near future. I think it is very important that that occur.