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TRANSCRIPT - DOORSTOP - TOWNSVILLE - THURSDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2018
SUBJECTS: Labor’s Australian Skills Authority to crackdown on 457-style visas; children being transferred from Nauru; Morrison must accept New Zealand’s resettlement offer; lifetime ban legislation; border protection; Labor’s commitment to Townsville jobs and infrastructure; Malcolm Turnbull calling Scott Morrison a liar.
CATHY O’TOOLE, MEMBER FOR HERBERT: It’s great to have Shayne Neumann here today, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Shayne’s here today to talk with stakeholders about the 457-style visas that are impacting employment opportunities for people in our community. We have over 560 457-style visas here in our community. That means 560 young people or other members of our community who can’t get a job. This is compounded by the fact that we have had a $3 billion cut to the TAFE sector so our young people are suffering. We have 46 per cent less apprentices so we do not have our young people getting access to the training opportunities that they need to build their skills for a future and a good quality secure job. So I’ll hand over Shayne to speak a little bit more about the 457-style visa situation.
SHAYNE NEUMANN, SHADOW MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION: Thanks Cathy, it’s great to be back here in Townsville and there’s a lot of similarities between Townsville and my home city of Ipswich; great military towns both of them. It’s great to have a champion from the North like Cathy in Parliament; she’s been standing up for local people and local jobs that’s for sure. It’s scandalous that the LNP are not addressing the growing number of overseas people who are in Australia on 457-style visas. Don’t forget this is a Government which has slashed $3 billion from TAFE and vocational training programs in this country. This means that local workers are being put at the back of the queue when it comes to local jobs. Now Labor does not want businesses to look overseas for their skilled workforce. That’s why Labor is announcing an Australian Skills Authority – an independent labour market testing body to determine genuine skills needs, to limit temporary visas with working rights to only those areas with skills shortages. There is no excuse for a skills shortage to last one day longer than it takes to train an Australian to do the job and that’s why Bill Shorten, Cathy O’Toole and myself – we’re standing up for local jobs whether it’s in Townsville, Ipswich or elsewhere. It’s great to have a champion like Cathy in Federal Parliament and I encourage the people to support her.
As the Shadow Minister for Immigration I’d like to say a few words about the news reports today. It is welcome but long, long overdue that the Government is reported to be transferring children from Nauru for medical treatment. Labor has long been arguing the Government should be doing that – listening to treating clinicians. But Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton have been saying the complete opposite for such a long time and they’ve been doing the complete opposite. They have been fighting case after case, resisting the medical transfer of children in need of medical treatment from Nauru to Australia or other treating locations. They have been doing the precise opposite. Now it’s time for Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton to come clean. Labor is calling on them to transfer the children from Nauru, and their parents or caregivers, but in addition to that we need long-term solutions to third country resettlement. It’s time for the Government to come clean about what they propose. Labor has been calling on the Government to accept the generous offer from New Zealand. Don’t forget this is an offer of 150 refugees for the last five years; 150 a year. It’s always endured through the Abbott, Turnbull and now Morrison Government and we’re calling on Scott Morrison to do the right thing. If Malcolm Turnbull can negotiate a US refugee deal with the United States, why is Scott Morrison incapable of doing the same thing with New Zealand? Happy to answer any questions.
JOURNALIST: Shayne if the children are removed from Nauru, there will be 1100-1200 people on Nauru and Manus Island. What in your eyes should happen to them?
NEUMANN: Well that’s why the US refugee resettlement arrangement is really important. Labor also supports and Labor would accept the generous offer from New Zealand on suitable terms and conditions. But these were meant regional processing centres – temporary places of regional processing – not places of indefinite detention. These people have endured there for five years. The Government should be arranging third country resettlement arrangements and the Prime Minister of this country should pick up the phone and ring the Prime Minister of New Zealand today.
JOURNALIST: Will you guarantee that if Labor wins the next election the Nauru and Manus caseloads will be resettled within six months?
NEUMANN: We’ll guarantee we’ll do this as a very high priority – we will pick up the phone straight away and accept and negotiate the terms and conditions with New Zealand. We’ll support the US refugee arrangement and we’ll look at other third country resettlement arrangements as well. Something the Government has failed to do under three Prime Ministers.
JOURNALIST: You said with the 50 children their parents should be brought also I believe there’s thirteen children with parents that are considered high risk. Do you think we should bring those parents over or what should happen with that situation?
NEUMANN: Well the Government’s all over the place. Last week they were telling us in Parliament this was a big problem. Today, if you believe the news reports, it’s not a problem. I mean this is up to the Government to explain this – how is it a risk to the United States but it’s not a risk to Australia? It’s up to the Government to explain this problem, they’ve created it, they have failed to explain what is the problem here, they have not come clean, they need to come clean to the Australian public.
JOURNALIST: As you said we’re hearing this on news reports. Have you been briefed on the current operation?
NEUMANN: No we haven’t been briefed and Labor will be seeking a briefing in relation to what’s been happening. We had a briefing in the last week of Parliament as to what was happening at that stage but we haven’t had a briefing as to what the Government has leaked to the media today in respect to getting all the children off by the end of the year. It’s time for the Government to come clean, not just with the Opposition but come clean with the Australian public. What’s the long term solution? And why are they continuing to not listen to treating clinicians and why are they continuing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer’s money fighting cases? In the first quarter this year, they spent $480,000 of taxpayer’s money resisting medical transfers. In the end, guess what happens? They come.
JOURNALIST: With the New Zealand offer there’s I guess the middle ground is if the backdoor, so-called backdoor, visa situation is resolved. Would Labor consider supporting that?
NEUMANN: Well the lifetime ban there’s no guarantee – even if Labor supported the lifetime ban legislation that’s been stuck up in the Senate for two years – that Scott Morrison were actually to do a deal with New Zealand. I mean he had a bit of an interest in this before the Wentworth by-election. Presumably if I’m being cynical for political considerations in a by-election, but he seems to have gone completely cold on the issue. Now Labor has offered a reasonable compromise, that is, if he’s concerned about the so-called backdoor challenge, how about you limit by way of an amendment to the legislation to the cohort of New Zealand. How about you actually close that so-called backdoor by prohibiting people to come into this country under the Special Category Visa, the 444, which allows New Zealanders to come and live in Australia and work in Australia permanently. Labor’s offered a good compromise – the Government’s slammed the door in our face. I think we’ve done the right thing.
JOURNALIST: As you said, if Labor does take Government it is a priority to sign that New Zealand deal, I mean, would that backdoor would be closed under a Labor Government?
NEUMANN: We don’t even think it’s necessary, can I say, which is why we have even before we offered what I thought was a reasonable compromise, we don’t think this legislation is necessary. We thought that lifetime ban legislation was just plain stupid; it was an overreach. It meant that people couldn’t come here to Australia on tourist visas or business visas in Australia, when it could be in our national interest. It was just a stupid piece of legislation and we’re not going to support it in its current form.
JOURNALIST: Do you think if you don’t have a backdoor it would start the boats again? Can you guarantee it wouldn’t start the boats again?
NEUMANN: Labor believes in turnbacks when safe to do so and strong borders but I’ll tell you something. You can have strong borders but you can treat people with decency and compassion. I don’t think leaving people in indefinite detention for the last five years was the right to do but they should have gotten these people off well and truly by now.
JOURNALIST: Is the big risk though drownings at sea? Those are critical seeing as there was 1200 in the previous Labor Government.
NEUMANN: The previous Opposition could have supported the Malaysian Solution which might have addressed some of those issues but can I say Labor will never let the people smugglers back in business. We believe in turnbacks when safe to do so and can I make this point – every time Peter Dutton lies about Labor’s strong position on border protection, he’s a walking, talking billboard for the people smugglers and is encouraging them.
JOURNALIST: Shayne what will happen to the 400 plus people who have been brought to Australia from Nauru and Manus since 2013 under a Labor Government?
NEUMANN: Well we said that they should be looking to go to New Zealand or the Government should lift the bar which is prohibiting them from accessing the US refugee resettlement arrangement and the Government should be looking at third country arrangements. They have failed to do so over five years and three Prime Ministers.
JOURNALIST: The PM says Labor needs to show more respect to Nauru locals and not talk down their country. Are you too critical of Nauru?
NEUMANN: No we’re not. We thank the Nauruan Government for the RPC but it’s an independent country that Australia has a respectful and cooperative relationship with. Labor is not doing that. We have always respected the Nauruan Government as well as other governments in the region.
JOURNALIST: Back to the local issue and the meetings today, what are the concerns you’ve heard from the ETU and local business?
NEUMANN: We’re about to have that meeting with the locals but we are concerned because everywhere I’ve gone – whether it’s been in Gladstone or Mackay or Cairns or even in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne – the same story has been the case. The fact that we’ve got to prioritise local jobs and 457-style visa situations where businesses look overseas is not the way to go. Let’s prioritise local jobs, train local people and that’s why Labor by the way is investing another $100 million to make sure we revitalise our TAFE campuses and we’re providing 100,000 fee free places for TAFE students because we want to make sure that we provide the necessary training and that’s why Labor is emphasising education as critical.
JOURNALIST: With the 500 or so 457 jobs in this North Queensland area, can you tell us what sectors they are in and what sort of jobs and could they be filled by local workers?
NEUMANN: Well we believe with that number of people you’d be across the whole range of economy in Townsville whether it be retail or hospitality or a whole range of areas in a city the size of Townsville, it wouldn’t just be one sector that’s for sure.
JOURNALIST: I guess the big issue has been media reports has been the solar farms and the solar projects and foreign workers. Is that still a concern for Labor?
NEUMANN: It’s always a concern when local workers don’t get access to local jobs. I might hand it over to Cathy who’s got a better local knowledge of the whole issue.
O’TOOLE: Shayne is right it’s actually impacting across a range of sectors but what we need to understand here is we have 9.1 per cent unemployment and that’s almost double the national average. The unemployment rate has doubled under this LNP Government since Labor left power. So the issue here is making these jobs available for our local residents; that is not happening. So across many sectors I’ve heard from people in aged care, meatworks, the solar farms and a whole range of other areas, where they are very concerned about that the use of 457-style visas. And the big issue for us, and I can’t emphasise this enough, we have unemployment at 9.1 per cent – that is completely unacceptable when we think there are 560 jobs going to overseas people on 457-style visas. Our youth unemployment hovers between 17 and 20 per cent – that is unacceptable. We need to revitalise our TAFE sector and ensure that these young people are getting the skilled training that they need.
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned some of the workers are also being underpaid? Those overseas workers?
O’TOOLE: That’s always a concern; I know the unions have fought hard in that space. It’s always a concern. Why should anybody doing a job be underpaid. We do not want to drop the terms and conditions of our workers by importing workers from overseas and having a situation where they are allowed to be paid less money. That is completely unfair, that is not what Labor stands for and under no circumstances will we support that.
JOURNALIST: Yesterday the Coalition announced a trial for apprenticeships – paying 75 per cent of the first year, 50 per cent the second year and 25 per the third year. Is that a good step in the right direction?
O’TOOLE: I think what the Coalition needs to look at is take a very broad view of the vocational educational and training sector. They have a lot of ground to make up – 46 per cent drop in apprenticeships. That is over 15,000 people; that is a lot of apprentices. We need to have in this city, we need to have infrastructure funded that this Government is not funding. Infrastructure will deliver us jobs. So Labor has committed $100 million to Stage 2 of the long term water security. We have committed $200 million for energy, hydro-power at the Burdekin Falls dam, and we’ve also – and the Government came along months after – we committed the $75 million to the port expansion project. That is the sort of commitment we want to see from this Government; we are not seeing it.
JOURNALIST: Another question for Shayne, what were your thoughts on Malcolm Turnbull in Bali representing the Morrison Government on trade?
NEUMANN: This is a shambles this Government. Who’s lying? Malcolm Turnbull or Scott Morrison? Someone says he’s going over – Morrison said he was going over there for the oceans issue. Malcolm Turnbull said he was going over for trade. I mean, the Government can’t get their act together. They’ve got to explain this. I just think one of them is lying… which one?
ENDS