Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. The minister can look at the Sydney Morning Herald of 19 September to perhaps gain a few more details in respect of the case. He might like to get back to the Senate with an answer to the question. But—while he is doing that—doesn’t this case, in the words of the Sydney Morning Herald journalist Malcolm Knox, ‘lay down a template for any employer wishing to import cheap labourers and rip them off’? Does the minister seriously think that the two workers will not be disadvantaged from pursuing their underpayment claims if they are forced to leave? Doesn’t this case again expose the fact that the government is allowing the 457 visa scheme to be used as a way of driving down the wages and conditions of Australian workers?