DUBIOUS applications for foreign worker visas have been approved because rules prevented officials from investigating their suspicions, the federal government argues.
Following the government's move to tighten the skilled worker 457 visa program, Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor outlined examples in an attempt to back up his claims that the scheme has been rorted by unscrupulous employers.
But employer groups have insisted this kind of dodgy behaviour was rare. And the Opposition has questioned the role of Mr O'Connor's union leader brother, Michael, in driving the changes.
The Australian Mines and Metals Association said the prospect of jeopardising the resources industry's contribution to the nation due to a few isolated incidents was ''completely absurd''.
A business can sponsor a worker for a 457 visa if they cannot find an appropriately skilled Australian citizen or permanent resident.
By December, there were about 84,000 people on such visas in Australia.
In one case cited by Mr O'Connor's office, a manufacturing company in Perth nominated 457 visa holders with a salary of $92,000, high enough to save applicants from having to prove they met the English language requirement.
Following approval, visa holders were nominated to work for a different company at a reduced salary but there was ''no capacity for the department to reassess whether the visa holders met the English language requirement or were exempt'', Mr O'Connor's spokeswoman said.
In another case, a visa processing officer realised a Sydney-based hospitality business was unlikely to need a project administrator but was ''required to approve the nomination as there was not scope for them to question the genuineness of the position''.
Mr O'Connor has flagged plans to tighten the system, including restricting labour hire arrangements and ensuring the Department of Immigration and Citizenship can crack down on rorts by ensuring that employers provide the information necessary during the application process.
The Opposition has questioned the role of the minister's brother, Michael O'Connor, national secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, in making the decision to amend the visa rules.
The union has campaigned heavily to change the laws around 457 visas, but were less successful under Mr O'Connor's predecessor, Chris Bowen.
The Opposition's immigration and citizenship spokesman Scott Morrison said Brendan O'Connor came from ''a union clan'' and appeared ''very eager to do their bidding''.
Australian Mines and Metals Association chief executive Steve Knott said there was no evidence his industry misused the 457 visa scheme, or was even a heavy user of migrant workers. "The minister has made allegations of systematic employer rorting to justify significant policy changes, yet this evidence is just three isolated and ambiguous cases involving two white-collar hospitality workers and one manufacturing firm,'' Mr Knott said.
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