House debates
Tuesday, 17 October 2006
Questions without Notice
Skilled Migration
3:01 pm
Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware that the minimum 457 visa salary being paid to the 40 Filipino welders at Dartbridge Welding is at least 20 per cent below the market rates for welders in Brisbane? Isn’t this yet another example of your 457 visa program being used to drive down pay rates and conditions?
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
As indicated last night by the minister for immigration, the allegations made in relation to Dartbridge Welding and Filipino workers are being investigated. I will await that investigation before passing judgement on the allegations that have been made. There is some suggestion that they are being paid the market rates, but let us have all of the facts.
Of one thing we can be absolutely certain, and it is this: in investigating that issue, the government will consistently uphold the principle of freedom of association. We will make sure that, if people have suffered a penalty because they joined the union, there will be some redress as a result of that—
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
unlike those poor journalists on Saturday—
Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Ms Plibersek interjecting
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
who were told that they could not come into that conference unless they joined the relevant union.
Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It was a very simple question, and straight to the point, about lowering wages 20 per cent below the going rate in Brisbane. These workers are being robbed. The Prime Minister should address the question.
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, let me resume from where I was interrupted. We are going to vigorously enforce the principle of freedom of association. As far as we are concerned it is an inalienable right of any Australian to join or not to join an association. Every man and woman on this side of the House holds to that—
Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The point of order is on relevance. The question was about welders’ wages.
David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
As the Deputy Leader of the Opposition would be well aware, there was more to the question than that, including visas. The Prime Minister is very much in order.
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I thought the question was about the rights of people in Australia—their rights, whether they are of Filipino extraction or whether they are a journalist, a welder, a businessman or a businesswoman. What it is about is whether, under a future government of this country, if it were to be Labor, people would lose the right to join or not to join an organisation.
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
It is a very simple principle and it is a principle that I am going to see enforced. I say to the member for Lyons, for whom I have some regard—
Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Adams interjecting
David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Order! The member for Lyons is warned!
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
that it is a very simple principle. Are you for or against freedom of association? We on this side of the House are for it; those on that side of the House—
Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order under standing order 104. This was a very simple question. The question asked about wages. The Prime Minister is belittling what is a serious issue.
David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The Prime Minister is in order. I have been listening carefully to his answer and it is certainly relevant to the question.
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Can I say, I agree with the member for Grayndler that it is a very simple question: are you for freedom or are you against it? That is the question in relation to this issue, as it is in relation to a matter dealt with by the Minister for Foreign Affairs—
Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The point of order is on relevance. Is the Prime Minister for lower wages or against them?
David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The Prime Minister is very much in order. Members would be aware that if frivolous points of order are being taken I will deal with them.
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I will make sure and the government will make sure during this investigation that the right of freedom of association is upheld. And if that has in any way been abrogated then there would be a consequence of that abrogation. But let me make it clear, in the course of answering this question, that this is a principle that has to be applied with equal force on both sides of the argument. If it is all right to punish a company for imposing a penalty on somebody who has joined a union, it ought to be equally right to impose a like penalty on those who are forced to join a union. That is the difference: we are for freedom of choice; Labor is against it.