457 visa abolished, Malcolm Turnbull says fewer jobs for foreigners

Atlassian co-founder Michael Cannon-Brookes welcomes “logical” 457 visa changes but slams “Trumpy” rhetoric.

Malcolm Turnbull has announced new restrictions on citizenship and employer-sponsored visas. Picture: Kym Smith

Atlassian co-founder Michael Cannon-Brookes has welcomed the Turnbull Government’s new foreign worker scheme as being “logical” and applauded the scrapping of the old 457 visa scheme for removing categories which were nothing to do with technology.

But he dismissed the rhetoric around the announcement as “Australia first Trumpy crap which adds nothing but hot air.”

He said there was a need to separate “nationalism and logic” in assessing the new proposals tightening controls on the import of foreign workers.

Let's separate nationalism and logic. This program seems logical. The "Australia first" Trumpy crap adds nothing but hot air. https://t.co/Pd0mD3dibj

— Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

In a series of tweets issued tonight Cannon-Brookes, whose US listed software company Atlassian has been a big user of the 457 visa scheme to bring in skilled tech workers, said the “tightening rules put in place actually look quite sensible.”

“Great,” he added.

“As far as I can read so far, 457s have been named changed with a remarkably similar program which actually looks quite good” he said in his first comments on the proposed new scheme.

Billionaire software developer Mike Cannon-Brookes. Picture: John Feder.

He said the new program announced this week by the Turnbull Government “seemed to remove” categories where there were no real shortages of Australian workers such as betting agency managers, shearers, jockeys and dog and horse trainers.

Other categories which had been removed, he said, also included actors, blacksmiths, deer farmers, golfers, goat farmers and zoo keepers.

“Atlassian doesn’t hire a lot of these,” he added.

They removed occupations like actor, blacksmith, deer farmer, golfer, goat farmer & zookeeper 🤔 @Atlassian doesn't hire a lot of those... https://t.co/p4CYttOhUt

— Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

Mr Cannon-Brookes has been a strong proponent of the 457 visa scheme in the past which Atlassian has used to bring in skilled workers.

He repeated his earlier comments that Atlassian also preferred to hire local Australian workers where it could because it was “cheaper and faster to do so.”

“It just makes sense,” he said.

His benign view of the proposed scheme announced this week appears to be at odds with other entrepreneurs who have criticised the changes.

Cannon-Brookes, who recently got involved in the energy policy debate in Australia by engaging in a twitter conversation with US solar power entrepreneur Elon Musk, chose to make his views on the new policy by twitter from his holiday home in rural Australia watching kangaroos.

But he hit out at apparent criticism of him by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

And @PeterDutton_MP trolling?
Us: 🇦🇺 Jobs created? 1000+. Grads hired? 100s. Scholarships? 100s. Kids CS classes? 1000s
You: ?#BringItOn https://t.co/AYRdRTKI2x

— Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

“Did I just get trolled by a government Minister for being un-Australian?” he tweeted.

“This bullshit makes me mad.”

He said Atlassian had created more than 1,000 jobs in Australia, hired hundreds of graduates and had supported hundreds of scholarships and supported thousands of computer science classes.

“You?” he asked of Dutton.

‘Fewer jobs for foreigners’

Mr Turnbull says 457 visa changes would “create more opportunities for Australians to get jobs” and result in fewer foreigners coming to Australia to work under the new visa system than the current 95,000 on 457s.

But the PM would not quantify the impact of the decision.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg was unable to say how many Australian workers would get jobs under the new regime, but says he thinks there will be thousands more jobs that go to Australians “over time”.

Mr Turnbull said the number of jobs involved would “depend obviously on the demands of the economy and on skill shortages but you see we’ve got two objectives here; one is to ensure that wherever an Australian is available to fill an Australian job vacancy, the Australian fills it,” he said.

“The second thing is to ensure that we do not have skills gaps identified or occupations identified where there isn’t a skill gap.

“The third thing is to make sure that we are training Australians to do Australian jobs and we’ll be saying more about the training fund arrangements in the budget.”

Mr Turnbull said chefs had remained on the list of occupations for which employers could hire foreign workers because employers were saying they couldn’t find Australians to do the work.

“That is one of the enduring skills gaps and that is where we need to make sure that our training fund is focused on and employers are focused on, training Australians to do that work,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said details of a levy companies applying to bring in foreign workers will have to pay to the government’s national fund to train Australian workers will be revealed in the budget.

Asked whether he was concerned about appearing “Trumpesque”, given US President Donald Trump’s announcement overnight of his “Buy American, Hire American” executive order, Mr Turnbull said his 457 announcement had followed a very careful policy development process going back more than a year.

“It’s been carefully considered by Cabinet weeks ago, it’s gone through all of the processes, all of our processes,” he said.

“This is a carefully considered decision that has been developed and it reflects our policy of putting Australians and Australian jobs first.

“Commentators can make whatever comparisons they like but my Government is committed to putting Australians and Australian jobs first.”

Mr Turnbull was quizzed on a tweet he posted in 2013 in response to then Prime Minister Julia Gillard announcing that her Government was tightening the 457 program which stated that Ms Gillard’s attack on 457s struck at the heart of skilled migration systems.

“I’m glad that you’re analysing tweets from four years ago but I’m focused on governing Australia today,” he said, before going on to highlight Bill Shorten’s record as employment minister four years ago.

“I’m putting Australian jobs first, Australians for Australian jobs first, and what we have seen and we saw it particularly under the Labor government and particularly under Bill Shorten’s time as Employment Minister is a shocking abuse of the temporary skilled migration program.

“In the three years of the last term of the Gillard Government, Labor increased 457 Visa holders by two thirds.”

‘Thousands of jobs over time’

Mr Frydenberg was unable to say how many Australian workers would get jobs under the new regime, but says he thinks there will be thousands more jobs that go to Australians “over time”.

“The opportunity now will be for Australians to get the jobs first and foremost without having to go overseas under the 457 scheme, so there will be more jobs available to Australians, and that has been welcomed by industry today following the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday,” Mr Frydenberg told ABC radio.

Asked how many jobs, Mr Frydenberg said: “I would have thought there would be thousands more jobs that will go to Australians over time.

“As we know there are 95,000 people who currently have a 457, many of those have been here for quite some time, because as you know it’s a four year program, but by moving to a two year program as well as a four year medium-term program there will be more opportunities for people in Australia to get those jobs and we just don’t want to see jobs that otherwise could be filled by an Australian go to a foreign worker,” he said.

Pressed again on the number of jobs Australians would gain from the changes, Mr Frydenberg said it would differ between sectors.

“And it would depend on the particular jobs in question,” he said.

“But the fact is we have reduced by more than 200 the number of jobs that can now be available for these two new streams, and that is very significant.”

Pressed on the time frame over which Australians would gain job, Mr Frydenberg said he expected it to have an immediate impact.

“This program will take effect immediately and obviously over time it will make a significant positive impact on the job situation,” he said.

“I think it will have an immediate impact and that is why we have deliberated over this policy to get it right.

“As the Prime Minister has said there was a lot of consultation, there was a lot of discussion, there was a formal cabinet process and I think we’ve got it right and I think today the fact that it’s been welcomed by so many in industry is a very positive sign.”

Mr Frydenberg said it was “completely wrong” to suggest that the policy was a sop to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

“This is a government policy,” he said.

“It’s been a product of an extensive and considered process and it’s a very positive development and one that Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton can take a lot of credit for.”

‘Rorts and rackets all over the place’

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he did not want the “default position” for companies struggling to find skilled workers to be bringing someone in from overseas to fill and Australian job.

The 2014 review of 457 visas upon which the government has based its overhaul suggested an independent body, rather than businesses, should make the assessment of whether companies need to bring in foreign workers to fill skills shortages.

Mr Dutton said Labor’s criticism of the government for not setting up an independent body was “nonsense”.

“Labor presided over essentially a doubling of the people on the 457 Visa Program and there were rorts and rackets all over the place,” he told Sky News.

Mr Dutton denied that the government was echoing Donald Trump and appeasing One Nation.

“You gave it away a minute ago when you said that this review had been done in 2014 and we have been looking at this space for a long period of time,” he said.

“This is not a decision that has been made overnight. We’ve thought through it deliberately.

“In Question Time after Question Time I’ve pointed out the deficiencies within Labor’s management of the 457 Programme and we have acted.”

Mr Dutton indicated he liked the idea of giving foreigners provisional visas before they can apply for permanent residency, but would not be drawn on what further changes the government is considering making to citizenship law.

“I’ve seen speculation in relation to that,” he said.

“I think there is — and I’ve said this publicly on many occasions — that there is a sound argument in my mind that people need to demonstrate that if they’re coming to Australia they need to abide by Australian laws, they need to abide by Australian values, they need to integrate into the Australian community and I think they are measures that need to be taken before people take out the Australian citizenship.

“As I say, I’m not speculating on what announcements we might make. All I’m saying is that the Government has a fairly broad agenda in this portfolio.”

Mr Dutton said changes would be made to the current system which requires companies applying to employ 457 visa holders to pay one per cent of their payroll toward training, but changes would be made to that system to establish a training levy.

“We have been consulting with business and we’ll make that announcement in the budget,” Mr Dutton said.

Labor wants skills focus

Shadow Skills and Apprenticeships Minister Doug Cameron welcomed the government’s plan to invest in skills as part of the 457 overhaul, but said there needed to be a focus on apprenticeships and TAFE.

“Labor is very keen to ensure that we have got more apprenticeships, to make sure that the TAFE system is reinvigorated in this country, in fact the TAFE system becomes the anchor for skills and training in Australia,” he said.

“None of that’s been discussed by this government and they are the key issues we need to deal with.”

Senator Cameron said Labor was not convinced the government would introduce sufficiently tough Labor market testing for the new visas.

“The government has said that they will do labour market testing after years of opposing labour market testing so we are not convinced they are genuine about that,” he said.

“Unless there is a rigorous labour market testing this won’t work and there have been many commentaries this morning about the need for independent labour market testing to ensure that employers do the right thing and to make sure there are no Australian workers available for the job before you bring overseas workers in.”

Another key problem with the government’s proposal, according to Labor, is the fact that free trade agreements with countries such as China and Korea will be exempt from the new visa requirements.

“The China free trade agreement, the Korea free trade agreement have got these natural movement of labour clauses in there so none of this affects that and you can bring workers in from China and Korea with none of these restrictions applying, ”he said.

Senator Cameron welcomed the reduction in the number of eligible professions, but said it was still too broad.

“Getting rid of some of the nonsense that was in there is good but you have still got fitters, you’ve still got boilermakers, welders, electricians, nurses, teachers — these are areas that we should be training our own people up,” he said.

“This is about skilling Australia and to maintain these areas of skill on that list while the government has deliberately destroyed the vehicle industry, destroyed the vehicle component industry, I think is a nonsense.

“There are many skilled tradespeople looking for work and that’s an area that hasn’t been addressed here.”

Senator Cameron, who came to Australia from Scotland in the early 1970s, joked that the new visa requirements should keep people like him out of the country.

“The key issue here is how do we skill up our own people so you don’t have to bring people like me into the country — there might be cheers around the country on that,” he said.

“I was brought in as a skilled fitter in the early 1970s and since the 1970s we have still relied on immigration to provide skills.

“There are many young people out there who are doing work for the dole, who are doing internships, who should be actually in training for apprenticeships — pre-apprenticeship training.

“Giving them an opportunity to do pre-apprenticeship training, get the TAFE system fixed up in this country, make sure people can get access to TAFE and we build up our own skills.

“Then this issue of skilled immigration, the issue of immigration generally does diminish because people have got access to training and jobs within Australia.”

Citizenship crackdown revealed

Malcolm Turnbull has announced a tightening of the requirements for people applying for Australian citizenship and employer-sponsored visas.

The changes come after the Prime Minister yesterday announced an overhaul of the 457 temporary foreign worker visa system.

Changes to the permanent employer-sponsored visa system include a reduction in the maximum age, from 50 to 45, a mandatory requirement of competent English, and the pathway to permanent residency beginning after three years rather than the current two.

“Changes to citizenship will enable our migration program to contribute still further to our social cohesion while enhancing our security,” Mr Turnbull told and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Breakfast in Canberra today.

“Australia must continue to attract people who will embrace our values and positively contribute, regardless of nationality or religious belief.

“This is important for temporary visas, vital for permanent residency and citizenship.

“Citizenship must be valued and we’re making changes so the practices and principles of those obtaining citizenship are consistent with our cultural values.”