Page 429 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 8 March 2006
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Three, general pleasantry elsewhere, law in the ACT: the ACT is unique in that it has a legislated bill of rights. The Human Rights Act is comprehensive in tabling the rights and responsibilities of all Canberrans to all Canberrans. This extends to migrant workers.
Those are a few simple rules. In fact, they are already the requirements under the visa arrangements made with skilled migrant workers. But the issue is not what is written on a piece of paper. This issue is not whether or not Canberra restaurants forgot about these obligations. This motion is not concerned with the outcome of the LHMU proceedings. The issue is that these allegations can be made and that DIMIA cannot respond because DIMIA did not and does not monitor the working arrangements of skilled migrant workers. That is simply not good enough.
The federal government and the minister for immigration and multiculturalism have an obligation to these workers. These workers are filling a gap created by their ongoing starving of the vocational training sector. But, instead of protecting these vulnerable workers, the federal government seeks to create another class of worker in Australia and it will turn a blind eye. This motion calls on the federal government to do its job and to ensure that these workers are protected. It calls on the department and the federal government to establish a means of monitoring the working conditions that form the basis of these working visas.
Such monitoring would ensure that both workers and employers are clearly aware of their rights and responsibilities. Monitoring would reduce the likelihood of exploitation of these workers. It would mean that good employers can be recognised and bad employers can find other means of attracting workers. Random inspections, contacting workers after work and requiring payslips of employers are all a means of monitoring the work contracts of skilled migrant workers and their employers that do not jeopardise the employment of migrant workers but ensure their rights and entitlements. Skilled migrant working visas are a reality. We have a responsibility to these workers, as we have a responsibility to every worker in Canberra.
MR MULCAHY (Molonglo) (10.56): I am pleased to speak to this motion because it is about an area of ongoing interest on which I have spoken previously, such as in a debate on, I think, an MPI about the critical importance of skilled immigration, although I understand that Mr Gentleman was really focusing on particular experiences in the ACT, to which I will make reference a little bit later.
This motion does acknowledge the chronic skills shortages and I think it is fair to say that our colleagues in parliaments across Australia, including at the commonwealth level, all realise that this is one of the major challenges facing Australia. Indeed, it is one of the major challenges facing many Westernised industrial countries. Some years ago I met with my colleagues in the hotel association in Washington and they cited hotels in southern United States, in Florida, that had been completed, fitted out and finished and were still closed three months later because of their complete inability to find sufficient skilled people to fulfil the various tasks.
It is a well-known fact that, due to the growing demands of ACT businesses and the development of the territory in general, it is essential that the potential talents and professional skills of overseas migrants are fully harnessed. I have noted the efforts to
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