Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate both the senators who spoke previously on what they've said in a positive regard about the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023, because it's extremely important. I just came in at the tail end of Senator Scarr's comments, and those reflections that I heard I certainly very much support as well.

The widespread exploitation of migrant workers in this country has been widely understood for many years. In 2015 the Senate Education and Employment Committee conducted an inquiry into the treatment of temporary work visa holders, and the final report was titled A national disgrace: the exploitation of temporary work visa holders. In 2016 the Migrant Workers Taskforce was established to look into these issues. In 2018 the Fair Work Ombudsman's harvest trail inquiry reported a culture of noncompliance in the horticulture sector when it comes to—

Debate interrupted.