The Senate is being accused of throwing countless workers into limbo by scrapping rules allowing skilled migrants to be temporarily employed on rigs in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone.
The decision means the visas of these temporary workers may no longer be valid.
The government is furious, with the move adding to the problems it is already having with a recalcitrant senate.
And, as Amanda Cavill reports, while the carbon tax has finally been repealed, that's likely to be the only piece of good news for the government in the senate for months to come.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
It's a move senators believe will protect foreign workers from exploitation on offshore oil rigs, a claim disputed by the government.
The Greens moved the disallowance motion, claiming the temporary visas were allowing migrant workers to be exploited at the expense of Australian jobs.
Labor and the Palmer United Party supported the motion for similar reasons and the regulations were overturned in a vote.
There are three separate visa classes affected by the vote.
They are Maritime crew visas, the 400-series visas and 457 visas.
Greens industrial relations spokesman Adam Bandt says Assistant immigration Minister Michaelia Cash can easily ensure that everyone affected could keep working.
"The government can fix this by issuing a new regulation that respects Australian minimum wages and conditions. It's up to them. No one needs to be out of work for even one day. If anyone finds themselves out of work at all that is squarely the government's doing. The government has the power to fix this."
But Senator Cash says she's not sure Mr Bandt knows what he's talking about.
She says she is seeking urgent advice from the Immigration Department about the best way to protect the workers and the mining and gas industries.
"The effect of this is a person who is not an Australian citizen or a permanent resident will be in breach of their temporary visa conditions. Senators will be aware that the offshore oil and gas industry is a global industry and it relies upon the capacity to be able to transfer workers with specialist skills from project to project and country to country. I can tell you right now that this industry will not continue to exist in Australia."
But the disallowance of the visas is probably the least of the government's problems in the Senate.
The Senate is deadlocked over more than $30 billion in spending cuts the government says is designed to put the budget back in surplus.
These include the schoolkids' bonus, cuts to family tax benefits, health and education as well as the $7 co-payment on GP visits.
Labor, the Greens and the Palmer United Party say they will oppose them.
Already the Greens have ended the government's plan to reap $2.2 billion for the budget by reinstating the fuel excise.
The Senate has also voted to keep the last of the former Labor government's proposed tax cuts as compensation for the carbon price, costing the budget another $2.2 billion.
Chris Richardson, from Access Economics, has told the ABC the political games being played in the Senate will have a massive long-term impact on the Australian economy.
"Across the next ten years, and once you add in the interest bill as well, you're talking about $300 billion that the Senate is implying it will impose. Part of the problem is the politics here are looking really difficult: for the better part of 20 years, whoever's been in opposition has been more and more willing to be opportunist around that."
The budget situation in the Senate led Treasurer Joe Hockey to threaten to take tough financial action to find cuts in ways that don't need Senate approval.
"If the Senate chooses to block savings initiatives, then we need to look at other savings initiatives that may not require legislation."
Where those cuts would fall is hard to say with many pundits predicting that the government may have to go back to the drawing board and hand down a different budget before the end of the year.
One high note for the government in the final week before the long winter break is the government has finally managed to get the carbon tax repealed.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says it's not a moment too soon, particularly for those people under financial pressure.
"I am glad that the carbon tax has been repealed and I know that the Australian Greens are upset by that. I don't think that a unilateral action as it was with the biggest carbon price in the world was going to do anything but infuriate people, lose you supporters and make people poorer. Now, we have a direction action process and there are programs that hopefully can assist in a global push for reducing carbon emissions."
However, that may just be the only bright spot for the government in the senate for many months to come.
Share
