Peter Dutton: Foreign workers to be banned from Australian fast food jobs
EXCLUSIVE: Foreign workers will be banned from working at McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s and KFC so teens don’t miss out on fast food outlet jobs, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says.
NSW
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FOREIGN workers will be banned from taking jobs at McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s and KFC in an unprecedented crackdown by the federal government.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has declared Aussie teenagers who want to serve fries or flip hamburgers at fast food outlets should not lose out to foreign rivals when youth unemployment is rising.
The minister will scrap a deal, struck while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was workplace relations minister, allowing major fast food outlets to import staff. It is the first time an entire sector has been banned from sponsoring overseas workers.
“Every Australian teenager should have the chance to get a job at the local shops,” Mr Dutton said.
“The Aussie kid shouldn’t be knocked out of the job by a foreign worker, which is what Bill Shorten did.”
In the past four years, more than 500 visas have been approved in the fast-food industry.
These workers will be forced to leave the country when their agreements terminate unless the fast-food outlet is able to mount an individual case as to why they should stay in the country.
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The 457 visas are temporary visas designed to fill temporary skills shortages.
More than 318 fast food outlets across the country have overseas workers behind the counter.
McDonald’s has flown in 285 foreign workers under the Fast Food Industry Labour Agreement, KFC has 88 foreigners on their books and Hungry Jack’s has hired at least 74 people.
Two major fast food chains have applied for 68 new foreign workers as retail managers or supervisors.
Advice was given to the former Labor government that the labour agreement should be limited to regional areas, but this did not happen.
The Gillard government authorised the fly-in workers despite being advised by the department it would come at the expense of employment for young Australians.
“The fast food industry is one of the more common employers of school leavers and young people,” department advice stated.
Mr Dutton said the Coalition government had cut back on the number of 457 visas being issued from a peak of 110,000 in 2013 to about 90,000 now.
The countries where most foreign workers on 457 visas come from are India, the United Kingdom, China, the Philippines and Ireland.
The Daily Telegraph revealed in November that Labor had approved a little-known labour agreement to allow major fast food outlets to fly in overseas workers.
Fast food outlets will still be allowed to make formal requests for a foreign worker in exceptional circumstances.
Originally published as Peter Dutton: Foreign workers to be banned from Australian fast food jobs
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