Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I listened very closely to Senator Ludwig and I did not think he made much sense at all. One of the reasons—and I think it is the basic reason—that we have to rely on 457 visas is that the economy of this nation has taken off. On top of that, the mining and minerals boom in Queensland and Western Australia has expanded to the point where you can walk in as a labourer and demand $100,000. Yes, you have to work maybe 10 or 15 days in a row, but then you might get 10 or 15 days off. This has sucked in all the skilled workers, and nowhere more than in North Queensland, where a person who drives a truck or is a skilled welder or carpenter can go and demand a job—not in a demanding way: people are begging them to take the jobs. We are seeing a migration of labour from the coastal towns like Mackay, Townsville and Cairns into the mines. When you walk around the engineering workshops in Townsville and see the people who make the mining gear and cars, you will find a number of them are on 457 visas.

Generally speaking, when you ask the employers what would happen without them, there is one answer: ‘We’d close down. Without these 457 workers we could not keep our business together.’ I can quote examples, name and verse, time and again, but it is more pronounced when you get to North Queensland. The reason we have had to fall back on 457 visas is that there is just no-one there to fill the jobs. We have an unemployment figure that is now under five per cent. Many of those who are under the five per cent do not want to work or are incapacitated. The economy has just sucked up so many skilled workers that there is a huge shortage. I would have thought, Senator Ludwig, that you would have got up and congratulated the government on their economic management and for sopping up all the unemployment, which was around 11 per cent when you left office. If you had been a bit fair you would have congratulated the government on the wonderful job they are doing in providing jobs for everyone in Australia. Let me tell you a little story from last week. Senator Ludwig, I am not sure whether you come from Charleville or Roma.