No serious person is saying 'migrants are taking our jobs', everyone knows they were invited here. The issue is the way in which big business uses mass immigration to cap wages and raise property investment prices, and uses 'skilled immigration' to save on training costs. This is the major reason why one house in a coastal suburb is worth more than some streets are worth in less well off areas.

Gillard's 457 policy is just another desperate stab in the dark by a Government about to fall.

< The fact that Pauline Hanson has come out in support of Prime Minister Gillard's pledge to "put Aussie workers first" starkly demonstrates the dangerous ground that the PM and a few trade unions have ventured onto >

As if to say that just because Hanson says something, it must be highly dodgy!

Sheesh Andrew, what a terrible way to start your article! It does your credibility as a balanced commentator a wold of good – NOT!

However, I am pleased to say that all-considered, it is actually not a bad article!

< Immigration policy is hugely important to the future of Australia, both socially and economically. >

Absolutely. And we should most definitely be looking at it in a holistic manner. The same level of attention on the current absurdly high level of immigration and all its negative consequences as we are seeing with asylum seeking, wouldn’t go astray. It is afterall much more important.

< If there are people breaking the rules, it makes much more sense to put energy into enforcing the existing rules rather than create another set of rules… >

Now you are definitely talking my language! In this regard, we should be cracking right down on visa overstayers.

Yes we should be looking at the working holiday visa category.

But none of this detracts from Gillard’s and Hanson’s desire to refine 457 visas to make them apply to only those jobs where foreign skilled workers are really needed.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Almost every thinking person knows that the coalition played the race card with asylum seekers? [Starting with the Tampa and storm troopers, confronting unarmed asylum seekers?]
The Govt has lost control of our borders, the coalition bellow!
Little wonder, given Labour caved in to coalition demands to reinstate the pacific solution, even though their experts told them, it wouldn't work!
I didn't like John Howard and most of his policies, but I did respect his courage of conviction, even when I believed he was wrong.
I lost all respect for Gillard and her Govt, when they folded and acquiesced to the coalition over asylum seekers!
What's the odds that the coalition in Govt, finds the Malaysia solution suddenly palatable, and indeed, successful.
Why would anyone pay for a very expensive and extremely risky boat ride, if the only outcome was a return to the start of the queue?
As I recall the sequence of events, it was Hansen agreeing with Gillard not visa versa!
Gillard has no control over who does or doesn't agree with her!
As for 457 visas, we do need to ensure that they are not being misused by a few rouge employers, as a way to employ cheap labour.
However, if we crack down too hard, we could conceivably remove most of our current health workers, from rural and regional Australia.

Some might think that $15.00 an hour is not a lot of money, to swelter in the Australian summer heat, harvesting crops that can only ever be hand harvested! However, if you include free accommodation etc, it's not such a bad deal; and better every which way, than sit down money!
If we were to prevent imported seasonal workers, much of this food would be ploughed in; and, replaced with inferior imports.

Skilled 457 visas, ought to be connected to apprenticeship training.
It should fill two purposes, make up the TEMPORARY shortfall in skills, and train enough new specialist occupation numbers, to ensure, we don't continue to have a skills shortage going forward!
Rhrosty.

…And any bright button would long ago have concluded that 457 visas will achieve for Abbott a “Work Choices” by another name. Another “slimy” wedge politic tool in the Liberal quiver so reminiscent of Howard: Wouldn’t it be lovely if Abbott were actually original!

Andrew I can not agree that because Hanson is sounding like she is in agreement with Gillard that this is a "dangerous development". Ignoring the corrupt way that some so-called "employers" are exploiting the 457 visa system IS "dangerous", I have personal experience of how unscrupulous these exploiters can be, I and about twenty other Australians were flown to Darwin on the week end to complete a "test", about half way through this "test" we were stopped for lunch, during which I bumped into a old friend who was a teacher at the uni/tafe, he told me that during the week Filipinos were being "tutored" to "pass" a single element of the "test", after lunch we were taken back to the motel, I never heard any results of the "test" and the company never contacted me, I was at least $500 dollars out pocket, and when I phoned the Darwin office they said they were "full up". They used us to pretend that they could not get the "skills" in Australia to justify importing Filipinos,the company refused to reimburse me for my costs and the Department set up by the Howard Government, because of the many complaints, claimed they could do nothing to "help me" because I was not an "employee" of the company, a typical "catch 22". Genuine skilled 457 visa holders may be an advantage to some companies but without serious monitoring, and serious fines for offenders the 457 scheme is going to be exploited to the detriment of Australian workers.