Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Ellison, the Minister representing the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. Can the minister confirm reports that the 457 visas of two Chinese men have been cancelled despite the men being owed more than $30,000 each in unpaid wages? If these two workers did not have the required skills, as Immigration now claims, can the minister indicate how and why they were granted their visas in the first place? Can the minister also explain why the official who cancelled the visas said, ‘I do not consider that the visa holder will be caused significant hardship by the cancellation of his visa’? Does the minister support this finding? If so, can the minister explain to the two men why he thinks that being forced to leave Australia despite being owed $30,000 is not an example of significant hardship?