Labor's proposed reforms to the controversial 457 visa scheme will require bosses to make every effort to employ Australians before resorting to foreign workers.
The employment watchdog will gain increased powers to monitor compliance with a 10-fold increase in the number of inspectors. Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor pointed to abuses in the scheme with a doubling of 457 visas in the hospitality sector and pressure from the Australian Hotels Association to reduce the $51,400 minimum salary so employers could use the scheme more extensively.
"The totality of the government's reforms will close loopholes in the current legislative and policy settings to ensure that the program can only be used by appropriately skilled persons and to fill genuine skills shortages as was intended," he told parliament. The union movement, which has long called for changes, backed this legislation.
Employers didn't. ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said exploitation of 457 visa workers was rife.
"This is nothing short of a racket involving migration agents, involving loan sharks, involving shonky employers that are exploiting workers on our shores, which is just totally unacceptable," he said.
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox accused the government of perpetuating the myths of rorting of the 457 visa system and continuing to politicise this debate.
He said the government had failed to provide any evidence of systemic abuse while the new requirement for labour market testing would impose an onerous compliance burden.
"The combination of the skilled occupation list of positions eligible for 457 sponsorship and declarations by businesses that they put hiring locally and training locally before recruiting foreign workers should be enough."
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said this issue should be examined in detail by a parliamentary committee.
"Making skilled migration policy a political and parliamentary football in a pre-election environment is completely the wrong approach," he said in a statement.
"The bill smacks of not just election year politics, but politics on the run."
Greens workplace relations spokesman Adam Bandt said action on 457 visas was long overdue. He said the Greens were favourably disposed to support this legislation, but would look closely at the details, particularly in relation to labour market testing.
"On the face of it, the government seems to have finally listened to unions and the Greens and are moving to require employers to advertise locally before bringing in workers from overseas," he said in a statement.
