Yesterday it was reported in the Herald Sun that the scheme will have to be propped up by taxpayers:
Taxpayers will pay almost $10,000 for every unskilled Pacific Islander brought to Australia under a new guest worker scheme.
This news, sourced from the Government's own economic update, isn't surprising. I reported back in May that the Department of Immigration had warned about the costs of a guest worker scheme:
The department argues further that the level of management and extent of controls necessary to ensure employer and employee compliance with program conditions, and to safeguard seasonal workers from exploitation, would render such a scheme prohibitively expensive.
Why is the Government pressing ahead with this then?
ReplyDeleteIn NZ the scheme has been criticised for preventing Asian workers, who previously did a very good job.
Also, there was a very controversial report in NZ earlier this year by Greg Clydesdale pointing out the underperformance of immigrants from the pacific.
With umeployment set to rise, I can't see why we need this guest worker scheme.
ReplyDeleteWe should get some of the local lads to do it.