Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to urge the government to listen to the tourism sector in relation to the specific Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme. In an article last week, Malcolm Farr highlighted that the skills shortage in hospitality is a problem of Labor's own creation. Eighteen months ago, Labor thought it was fine to transfer workers from the bars and swimming pools to the draglines and trucks of the mines.

In a speech to the Sydney Institute entitled A New Age of Energy, the Minister for Resources and Energy told a resources-energy sector audience: 'Why shouldn’t Cairns be considered a mining labour resource?' This of course has created a hospitality industry skills shortage exacerbated by Labor removing chefs and cooks from the business migration list of skills. Labor's solution today is to import foreign workers to fill vacancies. A solution is long overdue, but we remain unconvinced by this idea.

We are prepared to consider Labor's expanded scheme but we await the detail. I would also urge the government to ensure that the scheme (1) does not disadvantage Australians seeking work in the tourism sector, (2) attracts the right candidates for a jobs base geared towards emerging industrialising markets such as China, India and Russia, (3) is subject to review, to ensure it does not become a backdoor option for migrants not interested in hospitality and (4) does not replace longer-term labour-force planning.