The Abbott government’s reopening of a visa loophole in the temporary working visa (457) program is a retrograde step, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA).
The Gillard government in 2013 had tightened the program to stop rorting by employers in the mining, construction and IT industries who knowingly hired hundreds more foreign workers than they had applied for.
SPA National President, Ms Jenny Goldie, says that with the recent decline of manufacturing in Australia and an increase in the unemployment rate to six percent in January of 2014 , it was critical that as many jobs as possible went to Australians.
“The Gillard government was right to tighten the 457 program in 2013,” says Ms Goldie. “Companies had taken advantage of it by bringing in too many workers, to the disadvantage of local workers.
“In July last year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that real unemployment is more than double the official figure. It should actually be 13.1 per cent when ‘discouraged’ jobseekers, the ‘underemployed’ and those who want to start work within a month, but cannot begin immediately, are taken into account.”
Ms Goldie says bringing in excessive numbers of workers, albeit temporary, only puts pressure on governments needing to supply infrastructure for an additional 400,000 people who are added to the population each year. Australia’s population growth rate of 1.8 per cent is three times the OECD average of 0.55 per cent.
“Temporary workers need housing and hospitals just as much as permanent residents,” she says. “Perhaps if employers had responsibility for providing these themselves they would be less inclined to favour foreign workers over Australian residents.”
Sustainable Population Australia, SPA Media Release, March 2014
Comments
Anonymous (not verified)
Thu, 2014-03-13 09:35
Permalink
Nothing more permanent than a "temporary" visa holder
Workers with 457 visas have to continue to work in the same position at the company for two years before they can apply for permanent residency — and they have to remain at the job while their PR application is processed.
There are also pathways to permanent residency available to people who originally came to study; in 2011-2012 a whopping 30,978 of permanent residence visas were given to former student visa holders.
If your spouse or de facto partner is the holder of a Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa (subclass 457) and you can demonstrate that you are married to your spouse or that you have been in a de facto relationship (hetrosexual or same sex) for at least 6 months you can qualify for a visa as a secondary applicant on your spouse/de facto partner's visa.
Rather than qualified migrants putting up their hands to come to Australia and then seeking appropriate employment after they arrive, business recruits directly from overseas. Rather than public servants in Canberra attempting to predict which skills the economy will require next year, business hires the foreign workers it needs, as and when it needs them. In other words, there's no planning - just come and see what happens! It's open borders to Australia.
Almost 40 per cent of 457 visa holders have gone on to become permanent residents.
Or, to look at the statistics in another way, about half of the skilled migrants granted permanent residency last financial year were already living here on a temporary basis, mostly as migrant workers on 457 visas or as international students who had graduated from Australian universities and colleges. - See more at:
There's nothing more permanent than a "temporary" visa holder.
Against Slavery (not verified)
Thu, 2014-03-13 23:07
Permalink
New drone presence uses asylum seekers as excuse to lull
Cruiser (not verified)
Mon, 2014-03-17 01:30
Permalink
Hidden cost of migration too high to pay - UK article
Add comment