457 visa overhaul a con job, Bill Shorten says

Bill Shorten says Malcolm Turnbull’s overhaul of the 457 temporary work visa system doesn’t represent a crackdown.

Bill Shorten says Malcolm Turnbull’s overhaul of the 457 temporary work visa system is a “con job” and not a “crackdown”.

The Opposition Leader said the government’s reduction to the number of categories of occupation eligible for temporary work visas was largely irrelevant, because plenty of key occupations remained on the list, while less essential jobs had been cut.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

“This is a guy who’s going to be tough on antique dealers and deer farmers, but he’s still going to allow mechanics and nurses to come in from overseas,” Mr Shorten said.

“Despite all the noise of Mr Turnbull’s cosmetic job, what real difference will Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement make?

“Let’s see in 12 months’ time how many people will still be here on temporary work visas.”

Mr Shorten said there were 750,000 people in Australia on temporary work visas.

“Let’s see how Mr Turnbull’s crackdown on one category of visa actually reduces the number of people from overseas with work rights in Australia,” he said.

“We’ll be watching that. The fact of the matter is, he’s scrapped one visa and replaced it with two new visas.

“The fact of the matter is that when you have a look at the list of occupations he’s seeking to change, only one in ten visa holders will be affected.”

Mr Shorten said the governments plan to train more Australians could not be taken seriously given that there are 130,000 fewer apprentices under the Coalition than there were under Labor.

He said that only independent labour market testing could ensure businesses weren’t rorting the system.

“Let Mr Turnbull answer this question: how many fewer people will there be in 12 months’ time working on temporary visas from overseas where they’ve got work rights in Australia?” he said.

Full list of removed occupations here.