Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

It is very disappointing to hear that the government will not be accepting Labor's amendments, because we are trying to help the government out here. The Australian people don't believe them when it comes to labour market testing, and they have good reason not to believe the government when it comes to labour market testing, or to leave it in the hands of the minister when it comes to labour market testing. It wasn't that long ago that members opposite, when we were talking about the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, accused this side of the House, and accused Australian workers, of being racist and of being xenophobic, because we wanted labour market testing to be in place. This is the track record of those opposite. They have vilified people for standing up to say, 'We want there to be a test. Before you bring a temporary worker into this country and hire them, we want to know that you've actually gone to market and tested it.' Quite frankly, this idea of consultation that the minister is talking about—allowing it to happen by the minister's decision—is again more delaying.

When we were in government, they voted against our changes to strengthen labour market testing. They voted against it. That's their track record. They have fought it every step of the way. Now they have an opportunity to support sensible amendments which will give Australian jobseekers and Australians confidence that the government finally understands the importance of labour market testing, that they will live up to the 'locals for local jobs first' plan that is being put forward. Instead, they're saying, 'Nothing to see here. We're going to come up with a couple of instruments.' Australians don't trust this government when it comes to temporary work visas.

The government is also not doing anything to really lift standards and crack down on some of the exploitation that we've seen of these temporary workers. I really feel for some of the temporary guest workers who come into our country. They don't know that Australians are missing out on jobs. They don't know that they're taking a position that hasn't been properly labour market tested. They aren't aware of the circumstances in which they're entering this country. Yes, it is true that a lot of them come here on a temporary arrangement with the want and the willingness to stay. We should encourage more migration to this country. We should encourage people to migrate here.

What we have before us is a real lack of commitment from this government to genuinely have labour market testing. That is why Labor has moved these amendments. We are calling on the government to do the right thing by Australian jobseekers and accept Labor's amendments around labour market testing. We need to mandate to make sure that companies advertise for a minimum of four weeks—and that it's not just a Facebook ad to a closed group. We need to mandate to make sure that it is done no more than four months before nominating a worker—that it wasn't done two years ago. I've met some employers who have said, 'I did that 10 years ago,' or 'I did that a while ago' or 'I just put it up on Facebook.' That is not enough. There need to be targets set. We need to make sure that we are prioritising Australian citizens and permanent residents for jobs and positions.

Quite frankly, as a country, we need to do better at matching jobseekers with the available jobs. It is far too easy for companies to look overseas and use a labour hire company to recruit people in. That is why it is so disappointing that the government is again using another delaying tactic by saying, 'Trust the minister to do it.' Given the track record of this government and given their failure to genuinely crack down on visa rorts and exploitation, we cannot trust them. They should accept the amendments Labor has put forward. They should listen to the Australian people, listen to the union movement and genuinely engage.

Their blind hatred of the union movement has again come up in this debate. Our unions raise issues that Australian workers raise. When they raised this issue about the importance of the labour market testing, what did they get from those opposite? They were told that they're racist—they're racist for saying, 'We want Australians to have jobs.' That is the kind of maturity that we have from the government when people say that workers coming into this country are, firstly, not being treated properly and, secondly, being brought into the country under false pretences because there hasn't been proper labour market testing. Corporate Australia needs to be held accountable. That is why we need to put these rules in place. The government should join with Labor, support these amendments and give young jobseekers in this country not only an opportunity but also the knowledge that they will be considered first.

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