There's been mixed reactions to changes to the 457 visa program for foreign workers, with the mining industry lambasting the government's announcement and the Australian Nursing Federation welcoming it.
A mining industry lobby group has accused the federal government of stirring up xenophobia towards overseas workers through its changes to the 457 visa scheme.
Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor has announced changes to the current scheme to force employers to demonstrate that genuine labour shortages exist before allowing them to recruit overseas trained workers.
The Australian Mines and Metals Association believes the current laws are strict enough to ensure that employers use the scheme responsibly.
The Association's Chief Executive Officer Steve Knott says he believes the federal government is sending out a negative message to other countries through its rhetoric around overseas workers.
"But we want them to focus on the facts and not the shrill, xenophobic rhetoric that's going on around the place at the moment," says Mr Knott.
"So if someone is rorting the system, our call to them is to prosecute them and get it sorted out at that level. Don't upset what is an important part of major nation-building projects that our sector is involved in at the moment and getting them up and running."
Meanwhile, the Australian Nursing Federation has welcomed the federal government's changes to 457 visas.
The Australian Nursing Federation says it has come across cases where overseas workers have been recruited to save costs by employing them on inferior wages to Australian-trained nurses.
The Federation's National Secretary Lee Thomas says the government's changes should help address the problem and provide more job opportunities for local nursing graduates.
"We have a specific issue at the moment where three thousand or more graduate nurses are looking for jobs in addition to those in places like Queensland where the state government is slashing nursing positions," she said.
