AUSTRALIA: Skilled worker program under scrutiny
Updated
Australia's system of bringing in skilled workers is under attack after reports that three Asian workers have died in conditions of virtual slavery. The Government is standing by its system, saying it's operating well, and says the tragic deaths are being exploited by trade unions. But the Parliamentary opposition says it's appalled by the revelation of the deaths of three workers from the Philippines and China.
Presenter: Graeme Dobell
Speakers: Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews; Opposition Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd
DOBELL: The newspaper headlines were blunt: "Foreign workers enslaved"... another read, "Bullied, underpaid and exposed with no escape." The Fairfax newspapers in Melbourne and Sydney detailed how three workers from Asia - brought to Australia on so-called skilled visas - had died doing those jobs. One expert was quoted as saying that some were forced to work in virtual slavery. The three deaths were of a farm worker from the Philippines worker on a cattle property in the Northern Territory; a Philippines stonemason crushed by a slab on granite at a stoneworks in Western Australia; and a man from China, working as a logger in western Queensland, killed by a falling tree. The report said the Chinese worker, brought in a skilled employee, had never used a chain saw before coming to Australia. Trade Unions say the deaths show the need for an indpendent investigation into the way that category 457, or skilled visas, are issued.
The Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews, rejects the union call, saying the deaths are isolated incidents, when compared to the 46-thousand skilled visas issues last year.
ANDREWS: There is an inquiry into the three deaths in question, but the union is engaged in what I think is quite a despicable scare campaign in suggesting that three isolated deaths out of some 46,000 primary visa holders in the last year is amounting to exploitation.These are regrettable and tragic incidents, but to then try and use this the way that the union is, I think is quite despicable.
DOBELL: With Australia enjoying its highest employment figures in 30 years, business says that foreign skilled workers are essential to get many projects done - especially in remote areas. Thus, the Opposition Labor Party says it wants the visa system to be retained, but to be properly run and monitored. The Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, says the deaths of three Asian workers point to flaws in the system.
RUDD: That report is a very disturbing report and we are going to spend a fair bit of time getting to the bottom of what's actually happened there in those cases. The reports, if accurate, are revolting, absolutely revolting.
DOBELL: The Immigration Minister says the largest use of the visas for foreign workers, is for computer professionals, registered nurses, doctors and other professionals. Mr Andrews says if Australian companies are bringing unskilled Asian workers, they're breaking the terms of the visas and can be prosecuted.
ANDREWS: There are severe penalties which we've introduced for anybody who, as a sponsor, breaches the scheme. But let's look at the cases. One of the cases involved an accident where a tree fell on a person and killed that person. Now, as I said, that's tragic, regrettable. We hope that those things don't happen, but they could happen to any worker unfortunately, in Australia. To say that this is somehow an exploitation of the scheme I think is just such a long bow, it's almost bizarre.
DOBELL: The interesting thing about that case though was that the 457 visa stipulates that these workers be skilled and trained for the work that they're doing. This worker apparently never picked up a chainsaw before?
ANDREWS: Well there's a responsibility of all employers to meet their occupational health safety and health regulations. But if a person employs someone in a job which is less skilled than what they were here under a visa on, they face penalties. If they don't pay them, for example, the appropriate salary, then they face severe penalties under the legislation, and we introduced that legislation this year.
DOBELL: The Opposition Leader expresses deep concern at abuses of foreign workers, saying there must be much stricter testing of jobs before employers can bring in people from overseas. Mr Rudd says the reliance on overseas workers shows that the Government hasn't been spending enough on training in Australia.
RUDD: Look, 457s are a part of the way in which this country has been managing its labour force needs, in part because there's been no effective skills strategy in this country for more than a decade. And this is a part of the overall economic equation at present including resulting in certain inflationary pressures in the economy because there has been inadequate investment in skills, but more broadly, an inadequate and virtually non-existent national skills strategy. We're paying the price for that today.
