Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (Senator Vanstone) to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today relating to immigration.

When we debate issues regarding immigration and asylum seekers, it is very important that we try to do so on a basis of fact. Our country has a long and not always very proud history of people distorting facts to play on people’s fears—fears of foreigners, fears of people coming to this country from elsewhere—and at the moment we are seeing those fears being played on in very different ways by different aspects of migration laws.

Regular concerns have been expressed about the section 457 visa—the skilled migrant visa—and there are legitimate concerns about people being exploited by unscrupulous employers who are breaching the requirements of this scheme. Unfortunately, as part of that debate and with the raising of those legitimate concerns, there have been what could only be described as conscious efforts by some—and perhaps subconscious efforts by others—to play on people’s fears and concerns that migrant workers are taking Australian jobs or that migrant workers are reducing the conditions available to Australians. There is no doubt that there are problems with the 457 visa category and other visa categories that bring people here with working rights. We need to ensure that the conditions that apply to those visas are fair and strong and that they are properly enforced. Clearly there are problems at the moment with their being properly enforced.

The Democrats support more action to properly enforce the obligations under these visas. We do not support any suggestion that migrant workers should be blamed for failures in this area. We do not support any suggestion that 457 visas and migrant workers per se are harming Australian job prospects—these visas are meant to be available only where locally skilled people cannot be found. Although that aspect of the 457 visa has been breached, that is not a reason to get rid of the program altogether, as has been suggested by some in the community, and there is legitimate reason to be concerned about how some of those fears are being played up and how the debate is happening.

The minister is right in pointing out that, from time to time, that is being done, but the minister is unfortunately guilty of the same error herself—indeed, magnified many times with her yet again disgracefully inaccurate assertions in question time today in respect of temporary protection visas, the SIEVX and asylum seekers in general. The minister made great play about no people arriving by boat since November 2001. It is true; however, temporary protection visas did not come in in 2001—they came in in November 1999. After the introduction of temporary protection visas in 1999, the number of people arriving by boat increased. Any suggestion that to get rid of temporary protection visas would encourage people to come here and would say to the people smugglers, ‘We’re open for business,’ is not borne out by facts and is deliberate fear-mongering. Any suggestion that temporary protection visas served to reduce the number of people coming here is wrong in fact.

Another aspect is this continual attempt to dodge the unavoidable link between temporary protection visas and the huge number of children who were on board and drowned when the SIEVX sank in October 2001, five years ago. The reason why there was such a huge number of women and children links directly to the temporary protection visa. That is a simple fact. The statistics provided to the Senate inquiry—which this government would have prevented from happening if they had the chance now and which they opposed at the time—clearly showed that the number of women and children on board all of the boats that came here increased dramatically from the moment the temporary protection visa came in.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is rubbish!

Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is totally true and it is backed up factually by the statistics. You can continue to imply that they were not coming here because they had fathers here; however, I was at a press conference yesterday with a man who lost three daughters and his wife. He was already here and had been recognised as a refugee, and he had no way of linking back to his children and his family because of the temporary protection visa. The temporary protection visa was the only reason why women and children were forced to come by that mechanism. That is what the facts show. I know you do not like those facts, and I know you would not allow any Senate inquiries in the future that would show those facts, but those are the facts. If you are so happy about the SIEVX being a completely blameless experience, you should allow a proper inquiry. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.