Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes the failure of the Government to protect local jobs by failing to legislate strict labour market testing".

The Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2017 and the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Bill 2017 seek to amend the Migration Act 1958 to provide a framework to collect an additional levy from employers accessing workers under the temporary and permanent employer-sponsored migration programs. These charges apply to the temporary skill shortage visa, which replaces the temporary work (skilled) subclass 457 visa in March, the Employer Nomination Scheme subclass 186 visa, and the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme subclass 187 visa.

Labor agrees that an additional levy on temporary skilled visas is a reasonable skilled migration policy to ensure local workers get the first shot at local jobs. The proposed legislative changes have potential impacts on Australian jobs, businesses and people seeking the opportunity to work in Australia, as well as industry bodies, unions and TAFEs. Given the complex nature of the Migration Act, Labor refers all amendments to a Senate inquiry for further scrutiny. These changes warrant further consultation and investigation, which is why these bills were referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment. The Senate inquiry was an opportunity for those affected to raise their concerns about the unintended consequences of the recent changes to skilled migration, including the government's rushed policy announcements. Labor believes there are deficiencies in the government's bill in respect of labour market testing, and I will be moving detailed amendments in due course to address the government's failures.

As mentioned, the Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2017 provides a framework to collect nomination training contribution charges from employers accessing workers under the temporary and permanent employee sponsored migration programs. The bill allows the immigration minister to determine the manner in which labour market testing must be undertaken for a nominated position, including the kinds of evidence that must accompany a visa application by legislative instrument. These powers, as per the new subsection, may include the language to be used in advertising, the advertising period, the period prior to nomination in which the advertisement must occur and the duration of advertising.

The charges bill encloses the nomination training contribution charge or a levy payable under a new section. It also sets a charge limit for the nomination training contribution charge and provides for the indexation of the charge limit. As outlined in the new section 9, it is $8,000 for a nomination relating to a temporary visa and $5,000 for a nomination in relation to a permanent visa. The nomination training contribution charge will be payable by persons seeking to nominate a worker for a visa prescribed in the Migration Regulations. These are not the charges for a temporary skilled visa but, rather, a maximum or capped nomination training and contribution charge.

I note that the Commonwealth cannot be liable to pay Commonwealth taxes or fees. The new section of the Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2017 makes the Commonwealth notionally liable to pay the levy. States and territories are not exempt from paying the levy, as per clause 3 of the charges bill. The revenue collected from this levy will go towards the Skilling Australians Fund—a training fund administered by the Department of Education and Training for the funding of apprenticeships and traineeships.

Regulations under the Migration Act prescribe the different charges for the different kinds of visas available under Australia's visa system. The 2017 budget detailed the government's planned charges for skilled visas. For businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million per annum they are $1,200 per visa per year for a temporary skill shortage visa and a one-off payment of $3,000 for each employee sponsored for a permanent employer nomination scheme subclass 186 visa or a regional sponsored migration scheme subclass 187 visa. For businesses with a turnover of more than $10 million per year, the charges are $1,800 per visa per year for a temporary skill shortage visa and a one-off payment of $5,000 for each employee sponsored for a permanent employer nomination scheme subclass 186 visa or a regional sponsored migration scheme subclass 187 visa.

Proper skills and training funding means Australians—especially young Australians or Australians in our regions—can have the expertise which leads to meaningful work and a real living wage. I see young people in my electorate of Blair in south-east Queensland going to TAFE Queensland South West learning a mechanical trade or taking part in training in the nursing precinct in Bundamba—a Diploma of Nursing. Young Australians could be skilling themselves for a career in the cybersecurity industry, the shipbuilding industry or the hospitality or tourism industry. However, under this government, TAFE campuses have closed in towns and regional centres across Australia. Courses have been scaled back, and fees have increased. In December, statistics from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research showed the number of apprentices and trainees in training was down by 4.7 per cent in the period from June 2016 to June 2017. According to the same statistics, there have been 144,510 fewer apprentices in training since the Liberal and National parties formed government and occupied the Treasury benches in September 2013. That is 144,510 fewer apprentices on this government's watch.

The bills before the House introduce a levy on skilled visas, which has significant financial implications. The government expects their levy to generate $1.2 billion over the forward estimates, which will go towards the Skilling Australians Fund. Given the levy will not be charged until March this year, the government is providing an additional $261.2 million to the Skilling Australians Fund in the 2017-18 financial year. Despite these figures and any argument the government would attempt to convince you to believe, the Abbott-Turnbull government ripped $2.8 billion out of TAFE, skills and training over the past five years. This gutting of skills and training funding includes a $637 million cut in the last budget. There was a 30 per cent drop nationally in government funded training in TAFE between 2013 and 2016. It's a very poor track record from the conservative parties, which leads Labor to have reservations about how much revenue the measures being introduced in these bills will raise.

The government have been unwilling to release the details of the modelling they used to determine the estimated $1.2 billion from the proposed visa levy over the forward estimates. Besides some offsetting funding they're supplementing the fund with, because it's taken the government a year to introduce this measure, the Skilling Australians Fund is relying solely on revenue raised from the levy for skilled migrant visas. Treasury testified during the Senate inquiry:

We try our hardest to come up with what is a reasonable estimate of this fund and in this case it's particularly challenging. There were a lot of policy changes going on at the same time so it was difficult …

The government's rushed skilled migration announcements put undue pressure on the departments involved. This is not good policy development and not good governance. Treasury conceded during the public hearing of the inquiry:

The level of funding may change due to the number of visas that are issued and the number of levy fees that are paid from time to time.

If the number of visas goes down, so will the funding for skills. This is not a reliable model for skills and training funding. This is not a reliable model to build a skilled Australian workforce. The government's model does not guarantee skills and training funding. The ACTU testified at the Senate inquiry as follows:

In the absence of real transparency and firm commitments from the federal government about guaranteed levels of VET funding, the measures proposed by these bills will simply never be enough.

The government needs to invest in education, skills and training more than ever, and Australia really needs it. But this is an out-of-touch government doing precisely the opposite. The government's announcements about the Skilling Australians Fund have made no reference to supporting TAFE. Labor's commitment to TAFE is unequivocal—we believe that TAFE is the backbone of our skills and training sector. I know my colleague Senator Doug Cameron has fought passionately for TAFE and its future while attacking the government's negligence, incompetence and ineptitude in this area.

The out-of-touch Turnbull government consistently washes its hands of this issue of national importance. The immigration minister, the Prime Minister and the whole of the Turnbull government have had clear and repeated failures on their watch when it comes to skilled migration policies. The government rushed to make their skilled migration announcements in April 2017 before they were quickly denounced, even by a governmental official, as a dog's breakfast, according to media reports. It's a political stunt and subsequent revisions which the minister and the Prime Minister tried to dress up as substantial changes sent waves of uncertainty through the business, innovation and education sectors. This proved the Turnbull government can't be trusted with Australian jobs, skills and training. The measures outlined in the bills before the House today were trumpeted in last year's budget and are being debated here about nine months later.

I have met with many stakeholders who have expressed their concerns about how they weren't consulted by the Turnbull government before these sweeping changes were announced. This failure to consult became a clear and consistent theme during the Senate inquiry. At the public hearing not one witness testified they were consulted about a levy on temporary work visas, nor the creation of a Skilling Australians Fund, nor the cost of the levy before the government announced this policy in April 2017. The Australian Chamber Commerce and Industry stated: 'Were we consulted about the quantum of the levy? In other words were we aware what that levy would be set at when it was set out in the budget in 2017? No. The level of the levy was a surprise to us,' according to the Chamber of Commerce. TAFE Directors Australia stated: 'We have not been consulted nor has the government been clear about what its agenda is for the training sector nationally.' The Department of Education and Training stated in questions on notice: 'Trade unions have not been specifically consulted on this Skilling Australians Fund.' Treasury answered in questions on notice: 'Prior to the announcement of the Skilling Australians Fund, Treasury did not undertake any consultations on this measure.'

The Treasury—responsible for modelling the $1.2 billion in revenue, which the government believes their visa levies will bring in for the Skilling Australians Fund—did not undertake any consultations whatsoever about the measure. We have already heard how Treasury tried their hardest to make their best estimates, and that's what they said—their best estimates. We have a genuine cause for concern if no proper consultation was undertaken by the government or their departments.

Can the Turnbull government and their poor performance and track record in this area be trusted? The Turnbull government claim they will achieve a target of 300,000 apprenticeships and traineeships over the next four years using the Skilling Australians Fund. How are we supposed to believe this out-of-touch government when apprentices and trainees in training have dropped by over 140,000, including 40,000 trade trainees and apprentices, since the Liberal and National parties have come to office—40,000 in the trades; 140,000 nationally. This is a government without any robust or reliable plan for skills and training. It has no plan for the future, and certainly no plan for TAFE. The current Prime Minister seems focused on his job, and the immigration minister on the Prime Minister's job.

A Shorten Labor government would restore integrity to the skilled migrations program and commit to building a skilled Australian workforce. With underemployment at record highs and young people across the country struggling to find work, it's only fair that Australians get the first crack at local jobs. The bills before the House today outline some requirements for labour market testing, but they're broad and undefined. Labor market testing requires employers who are wanting to bring in overseas workers to test the local labour market first. This is to make sure that there are no suitably qualified and experienced local workers readily available to fill those positions prior to bringing in overseas workers. Labor's private member's bill, Migration Amendment (Putting Local Workers First) Bill 2016, introduced more rigorous requirements for labour market tests to be incorporated into legislation, such as the requirement that jobs be advertised for a minimum of four weeks and a ban on job advertisements that target only overseas workers and exclude Australians. The provisions in the government's amendments before the House rely on us trusting in the minister's work abilities, and his intention is simply not good enough. I will address some of these concerns during the consideration in detail stage.

We have not seen any proposed legislative instruments under this legislation, and the immigration minister has not offered or proffered any detail on how labour market testing requirements could possibly change for the better. The ACTU testified to the Senate inquiry: 'We suspect that government is not serious about a proper labour market testing regime at all. We're not satisfied the changes in the bill will tighten labour market testing.' If the immigration minister has failed to legislate strict labour market testing across occupations and skilled visas during his three years on the job, what would lead us to believe this tick-and-flick minister would start legislating them now?

By comparison, Labor will establish an Australian skills authority, an independent labour market testing body, to advise government on current skill shortages and future skill needs. Labor's Australian skills authority will be responsible for creating one skills shortage occupation list in consultation with industry, unions, higher education, the TAFE sector, and state and local government. This is to ensure that skilled visas are only made available when there's a genuine skills gap that can't be met with local workers.

Labor will not waive labour market testing requirements for any new free trade agreements, unlike the loopholes the Liberals undertook in relation to trade deals with China, Japan and South Korea. The Turnbull government is relying solely on skilled visa fees to train local workers. Labor will work to get as many of these occupations as possible off the skill shortage occupation list as soon as possible by establishing a new skill-up training fund to support training that fills skill shortages. To ensure Australia's continued growth and prosperity, Labor agrees we must set a clear price signal to employers wanting to use temporary overseas workers ahead of training locals. This is part of our announced skilled migration policy.

Unlike the conservatives, only Labor will guarantee secure and stable skills and training, by reversing the Turnbull government's $637 million cut to the skills budget and investing $100 million in rebuilding TAFE. Labor will also ensure at least one in 10 jobs on Commonwealth funded projects are done by an apprentice. The impact of the Turnbull government's ill-conceived policy, devoid of all forms of consultation, also exposes how innovation was set to be forced overseas, preventing businesses' access to talent needed to help build our economy. At the same time as putting local jobs first, Labor is not closing the door to bringing the best and brightest talent to this country that will help build our economy. Labor has led the way by announcing a four-year smart visa with pathways to permanent residence for the very best educators, innovators and researchers of global standing in science, medicine, academia, research and technology. In government, Labor will take advice from the Australian skills authority to determine the skills and areas of speciality available for this visa.

What the government has done is simply not good enough. This week The Australian reported that a co-founder of Atlassian, one of Australia's most successful software companies, now worth more than $12 billion, was calling for the government to introduce a visa for high-skilled foreign workers that can help generate jobs in Australia. A co-founder of this company, Scott Farquhar, said:

Being Australian, I want to make sure Australia can become a global tech hub. I think we can, but it does involve trying to bring some of the best and brightest people from around the world to work here.

Labor's smart visa is essential to remain a world leader in innovation, medical and scientific research, and high-tech industries. It is clear that Labor's measures are better and far more comprehensive than the government's.

I have already moved a second reading amendment outlining the government's failure to protect local jobs by failing to legislate strict labour market testing. When it comes to the consideration in detail stage, I will be moving detailed amendments to attempt to fix the government's failures, because labour market testing means putting local workers first and giving them the first shot at local jobs. If the out-of-touch Turnbull government won't do that, Labor will protect them.

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