Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, it is clear that I did not speak in plain enough English. What I said to you was that I confirmed that the number of monitoring letters—which is what happens in terms of the monitoring and site visits—had gone down, but that does not mean that you have actually done less in compliance. As I have indicated to you, there is a focus on targeting particular industries, and we think that gives a better result. I mean, if the police knock on 100 doors and do not get a result, you will not say they have done less if they knock on 50 doors that are more targeted and find the perpetrator. So I am interested in shifting the immigration work to have a more targeted focus. I do not accept that the proposition that I think you put, by simply not having had the opportunity for a briefing which I am happy to give you on 457 visas, means that less work is being done. I make that point again: it would be a lot easier if the Labor Party and the union movement, in a desire to attack IR laws, did not make false allegations—about which I will have more to say later. (Time expired)