The temporary worker visa system clearly needs reform. Unscrupulous employers have been falsely claiming to be unable to source workers locally. They then bring in foreign labour, whom they pay significantly less than they would legally have to pay residents.
The Turnbull government's axing of the 457 visa, introduced about two decades ago by the then Howard government to plug holes in the labour market, comes after a 2014 review triggered by widespread concerns about such rorting and exploitation.
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457 visa: bad news for goat farmers
Antique dealer, jockey and judge are just some of the occupations now unavailable to foreign workers after the Turnbull government announced the abolition of the 457 visa program.
But many people on 457 visas bring sorely needed skills – for example in tech, where there is high demand across the start-up sector, an established corporate sector constantly digitally retooling and a public sector needing to deliver better services to more people, and on tight budgets.
So, the government's task is to balance the need for employers – private sector and public sector – to have access to foreign employees, while not creating barriers to employment for residents, and not unduly downgrading the long-running role immigration has played in our economic and social strength.
Whether the changes, which stiffen the criteria foreign workers must satisfy to qualify for the two short-term working visas that would replace the 457 visa, will lead to much change is a gaping question. A few hundred out-of-date and thus irrelevant job descriptions have been wiped, which will change pretty much nothing. Most of the high-traffic categories remain.
Moves to increase the cost to business – including subsidies to training organisations – of using 457 visas are a reasonable way to encourage and prioritise the employment of Australian residents.
Education is the long-term solution to the underlying issue of providing skills to a growing economy. The method by which businesses using the 457 visa make mandatory contributions to funding vocational employment has been altered. It is hoped that this might lead to deepening the local pool of resources, and we believe there is merit in arguments that this would best be overseen by an independent body.
There is a potent political aspect, which overshadows the policy impact of the decision. While important in certain fields, the 457 scheme does not involve big numbers, and the proposed changes reportedly affect only about 8 per cent of current 457 visa holders, of which there are 95,758 – less than 1 per cent of our workforce.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is spruiking his policy as an unambiguous win for Australians seeking jobs. At the margin, it probably will be helpful, assuming the government can negotiate necessary legislation.
Mr Turnbull has reportedly been rhetorically outgunned on the issue by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, and both are struggling amid the historic rise of minor parties and independents. Some of that is the result of concerns about national security and immigration. It was one of the factors behind Donald Trump's ascendancy, once thought extremely unlikely. And it's a threat to a Prime Minister who all but lost his majority only months ago and who, one might be excused for speculating, needs to buttress his support in the party room.
To the extent the changes clean up the system, they are welcome. It remains to be seen if much actually changes, even though the rules are tighter. Genuinely required workers will still come here, thankfully. And the Prime Minister can claim, with a slight echo of dog-whistle at his shoulder, to have stood up for Australian jobs. As do a couple of fringe senators who are in effect claiming credit for Mr Turnbull's timely tightening up of part of Australia's immigration policy, Pauline Hanson and Cory Bernardi.
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