Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Vanstone, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Is the minister aware that some unscrupulous Australian employers are rorting the Howard government’s skilled migration visas to bring in foreign workers at the expense of local workers? In particular, is the minister aware of two meat factories operating in South Australia, one in Murray Bridge, which has taken on a large number of unskilled migrant workers at the expense of locals, and another in Naracoorte, which has replaced Australian workers with unskilled Chinese workers? Isn’t it the case that, following complaints to the department of immigration, an investigation confirmed that workers are not engaged in skilled work and are being paid less than they should? Has the minister taken any action to stop the abuse of these visas by the companies in question? Why is the minister allowing this visa class to be exploited by unscrupulous employers to trade off Australian jobs and exploit foreign workers?