Australian government to issue fast visas for overseas workers

Australia, 31st January: Australian government has announced to expedite the Australian visa approval for overseas workers as part of the Queensland flood rebuilding scheme.

As per Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, approval for Australian visas will be reduced to only five days for temporary foreign workers in case any Australian employer does not find domestic skilled worker with requisite skills.

The new Australian visa processing time will be slashed by about one-third. Meanwhile, the speeding up of the Australian visa approval for foreign workers is being criticized by several unions in the nation who feel that such a move will result in lowering of local wages leading to increased exploitation.

According to national secretary of the ACTU, Ged Kearney, Canberra must exercise caution in expediting the approval process of Australian visas for foreign workers since it can have a dampening effect on the nation’s workforce.

So, the Australia immigration department must issues Australian 457 visas to workers for Queensland projects having a genuine demand. Kearney, while highlighting the abuses related with the increased import of foreign workers into the country, said that no one is ready to witness a return of the abuses under the former Australian government when Australian workers were compelled to work for extremely lower wages primarily due to the unscrupulous employers.

David Oliver, national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, said that efforts must be made to ensure that there are right checks and workers are getting proper market wage rates. Australian immigration department had received several calls from a large number of potential Australian employers who had called for fast-processing of Australian visas for temporary foreign workers.

Meanwhile, reiterating its priority for the Australian workers, an official spokesperson of Chris Bowen, the Australian immigration minister stated that Australian workers are and will always remain the top preference of the government for the flood reconstruction employment.

But, the spokesperson maintained that seeing a huge demand for workforce in Australia at the present times, the nation is feeling compelled to opt for allowing foreign workers to come to Australia on temporary work visas for undertaking jobs at the reconstruction work.

Scott Morrison, an official spokesperson for opposition immigration, has urged the Australian government for waiving the work restrictions for those who are currently in the nation.