Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

There are a number of amendments which have come back from the Senate which the government has agreed to. Largely, these amendments go to things which we were planning on including in instruments, but which the Senate wanted to be included in legislation—in particular, the labour market testing provisions which, as everybody knows, we are very serious about incorporating as part of the reforms to what used to be called the 457 visas and which are now called the TSS visas, the temporary skill shortage visas. This is the primary visa to enable businesses to sponsor people into the country on a short-term basis. We wanted to ensure that there is very good labour market testing conducted first to give the opportunity for an Australian to accept the job before the business could sponsor a person from overseas into that position. The amendments go through some fairly rudimentary labour-market testing provisions—saying, for example, that the advertisement must be advertised for at least four weeks; that the advertisements must be at least four months prior to the position being requested; and also that the manner of the ads must be sufficient to give an Australian a good opportunity to know about it, to assess that particular job to see if they want it, and to apply for it. It's only if there is no Australian able to fulfil the particular job—having advertised for the position, done the right thing for the requisite amount of time—that the particular business can then sponsor a person into that position.

There's a further amendment, which was requested by the Nick Xenophon Team, now known as Centre Alliance, to review the operation of the SAF levy after 18 months. That seems like a reasonable amendment, and so we have agreed to that amendment. Consequently, I hope that now the SAF bill, with these amendments, will pass the House and be enacted into law.

If I can just reflect upon what this bill, the Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill, does. In essence, it amends the Migration Act 1958 to provide for the collection of a nomination training contribution charge from employers nominating overseas skilled workers. The measure is a critical element of the government's employer-sponsored migration reforms, ensuring that Australian workers are given first priority for jobs in this country. The government is considering industry concerns regarding refunds of and exemptions from the nomination training contribution charges. The government, as I said, supports the amendments to the bill moved by the opposition regarding labour market testing, and by Centre Alliance regarding a review of the nomination training contribution charge 18 months after commencement. The administration of the Skilling Australians Fund will increase the transparency and accountability of training contributions made by employers utilising the skilled migration program. This will increase public confidence that the businesses that bring in skilled migrants are doing their part to help Australians prepare for the workforce.

This is an important bill which is a continuation of our reforms to the skilled migration program, which included the abolition of the 457 visas. We were concerned that that wasn't always being used properly, and so we've introduced a new scheme, the short-term skills shortage scheme. That is in operation now and is going along well. We are finding that this is being utilised, but that there are skills shortages across the country as the labour market tightens. We're working with those businesses to ensure that where there's no Australian available, they can get a skilled migrant into those positions. I commend these amendments to the House and I look forward to the passage of this bill.

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

Labor has successfully amended this bill, the Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2018, in the Senate to ensure that local workers are given the first opportunity to apply for a local job, before an employer can apply to bring in an overseas worker. We're pleased the government has been dragged kicking and screaming to these amendments, and we're pleased they've changed their mind in relation to this issue. We have always believed in genuine labour market testing for employers nominating overseas workers and we fought for it every step of the way, including across two days in this chamber.

Labour market testing requires employers wanting to bring in overseas workers to test the local labour market first. This is to make sure there are no suitable qualified and experienced local workers readily available to fill those positions, prior to bringing in overseas workers. The Turnbull government did not legislate strict labour market testing in the original legislation, and that's why the debate took place across two days. Labor don't trust the government in relation to this issue—or their big-business budget—and we never have; that's why we moved amendments to protect local workers.

The successful amendments will ensure that labour market testing is advertised for a minimum of four weeks, has been conducted no more than four months before the nomination of a worker on a skilled visa and is targeted in a such a way that a significant portion of suitably qualified and experienced Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents would be likely to be informed about the position. They will ensure that there are not unrealistic and unwarranted skills and experience requirements for vacant positions with the effect of excluding otherwise suitable Australian applicants.

The Turnbull government have failed to protect local workers in their getting the first shot at local jobs. Labor's strict labour-market-testing conditions will ensure that local workers get the first shot at these jobs. We're pleased the government have changed their position. We had to beat them 38-28 in the Senate, and we're pleased that they've accepted these amendments.

The budget confirms our long-held belief that the Turnbull government botched their skilled migration changes and that their reliance on visa levies is deeply flawed, with $270 million in cuts to the Skilling Australians Fund uncovered in the Turnbull government's big-business budget. That's the subject of the debate before the chamber today. The Turnbull government's mistakes have forced them to make further skilled migration changes in the budget, such as refund and exemption provisions, leaving $270 million less going towards skills and training of young and working-class Australians. Because of this unfair budget, big business gets an $80 billion handout while Australians miss out on essential skills and training that should last a lifetime and lead to real jobs with decent wages.

The Turnbull government even admit in the budget papers their failure to get their act together, by blaming delays in the passage of enabling legislation. They could have accepted our amendments a long time ago when we proposed them, but, reluctantly, stubbornly and obstinately, they refused to accept them, and finally today they have agreed. The budget proves that the Turnbull government's Skilling Australians Fund, their primary source of funding for apprenticeships and traineeships, is deeply flawed and insecure because of its reliance on visa levies from overseas workers.

Only Labor will guarantee funding for TAFE and skills regardless of the number of overseas workers coming to this country. We're pleased that the government have changed their position, and we're happy to support the amendments.

Question agreed to.