"Pauline Hanson has welcomed Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s pledge to put “Aussie workers first”, saying it vindicated the One Nation founder’s much-criticised warnings against foreign labour more than a decade ago."

However, pretty much everyone else is horrified by Gillard's dog whistling.

"An adviser to the federal government on skilled migration says some of the prime minister's comments about health workers seem nasty. Professor Peter McDonald told the ABC's 730 Report on Thursday those comments were 'pretty nasty stuff'.

'I think it really undermines the system,' Prof McDonald said. 'The prime minister has talked about health workers for example in, I think, quite a nasty way.'

Another federal government adviser on skilled migration, Michael Easson, told ABC television he would like to see the government or anyone else give up any evidence of any rorting.

Also

"Australian technology industry figures have condemned Prime Minister Julia Gillard for ''desperate vote mongering'' over ''outrageous'' comments she made accusing IT firms of abusing the skilled migration scheme."

This is all extremely ironic since it was Gillard as shadow immigration minister that condemed in strong words Hanson's crusade against 457 visas.

Unsure SM of the worth of either but miss use of 457 has taken place.
Gillard however is dog whistling in this case.
Only last year Labor, and myself, supported Gina,s right to have them on a project that could not start without them.
Truly think I see an attempt to get unions and workers on side, not real concerns about them.
We should remember as the news storey,s say, Doctors and health workers in out back Australia uses the 457.
Pauline,s glory days are behind her Abbott has stolen her policy,s and a long list of failing to get back on the horse leave her little chance.

Belly,

Actually, there is no evidence that misuse of the 457 visa has occurred. While the visas have increased this year, they also dropped previously, and are well below their peak, so the fact that the numbers fluctuate are not evidence in themselves of misuse.

Juliar probably won't be able to show statistics of people caught out as to save the budget, she and Swanny reduced the people at customs who enforce it.

As Juliar was one of the most vocal to blast Hanson when she raised the issue, Juliar raising it now is pure hypocrisy and pandering to the unions.

Maybe if the States didn't implement such large cutbacks in TAFE training, we would have more qualified local people.

Should there be limits or is it possible to replace every local worker with imported labour?

Training under Labor, certainty not the Liberals, has been good.
Having met and worked with many 457 visa holders, in my union official days they often have skills we are short of.
Even more often, not all work in mining, they will work and live in areas others will not.
Forgive me if I am wrong, Gillard heads the ALP is that policys of that party?
I think a list of this womans policy,s, flops mostly, remember she can not claim many good ones.
Highlights her insulting view of us, the average voter, she thinks we will blindly follow such as cash for clunkers, this near racist rant and much more.

rache,
If the states had have been properly managed, there would be sufficient money for everything.

Waste and missmanagement were the order of the day,at least here in QLD.

But seriously, most up coming Aussies just don't want to work hard, full stop.

Many i see most within the SCG industry are on appearance money, with a little effort thrown in here and there.

I have also witnessed the construction of a large power line.

By in far the best workers on site are the Phillipinos, they arrive for work, don't scratch their nuts and have a smoke, they start work and, when they finnish, they don't automatically head off to the pub.

I also assume a fair chunk of their pay goes home to their families, rather than over the bar.

So it's our work attitudes that have created the need for these imported workers, not everyone's, but many.

Dear All,

Wouldn't it be nice to see Pauline Hanson become Member of Parliament for Oxley again?

Then she could go back to being an oxleymoron.

Dear Shadow Minister,

It is not surprising that Pauline Hanson approves of
the Labor's stand against the 457 visas. After all
she's for jobs for Aussies. However to state that
Pauline joins forces with the PM is a bit of a stretch,
especially when all news reports tell us that the PM
is distancing herself from Ms Hanson. Ms Hanson may have
delusions of adequacy - but the PM certainly doesn't
want to be associated with her.

What I do find rather disturbing and hypocritical -
is why doesn't
the Coalition and Mr Abbott support the PM in this.
After all the Coalition supposedly is for jobs for
Australians - so why are they now opposed to this?
Is it because this would mean deny cheap labour for the
corporations?

I wouldn't want to exclude all temporary or permanent migrants, as there are rare skills, and some real educational and cultural benefits to having some immigration. Nevertheless, I question the huge numbers that our politicians are inflicting on us, especially since our real unemployment rate is 10%, on top of an 8% underemployment rate (according to Roy Morgan Research). It beggars belief that people would prefer living on $35 a day on Newstart to taking a job.

We know that our population growth rate, due mostly to immigration, has a lot of negative consequences: more crowding and congestion, skyrocketing housing costs and utility bills, overstretched and crumbling infrastructure and public services, more pressure on the environment, and problems with ethnic tensions in some places. To be governing in the nation's interest and not just that of the corporate elite and immigration industry, the politicians would need to show large economic benefits to outweigh those negatives.

This graph from Macrobusiness shows our real GDP and real GDP per capita since 1996. Note that total GDP and GDP per capita stopped going up together in 1998 and that GDP per capita has been stagnant since the end of 2006, despite the mining boom. In other words, all economic growth since then is just due to having more people, not because the average existing resident is better off.

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2012/05/highrise-harry-wants-more-people/

The real situation may be worse because the population growth promotes inequality and GDP includes defensive spending, a desalination plant because you have outgrown your natural water supply, for example.

If 457s and the like are as wonderful as some of you are saying, why aren't we getting richer?

Dear Divergence,

The 457s have nothing to do with what you, I, government, or the nation wants.

It's all about what business wants: A plentiful supply of cheap labour.

And when the economy goes flat, it becomes our - the taxpayers' - problem.

The following two websites may be of interest:

http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/poll-shows-overwhelming-support-for-gillard-s-457

And:

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/employers-want-a-cheapie-just-arrived-off-the-boat-aussies-it-workers-told-20130315-2g515.html

The 457 Visa is a direct result of ever-increasing Union wage demands.
It's all their doing & now they're scared crapless.
Typical example when good gets too good & then out of hand.
It'll be extremely difficult to slow down a 40 year bandwagon.

Yes indi, I agree.

I'm sorry but I can't take this thread seriously. A known Liberal supporter lamenting the act of dog whistling is just too much - Cory Bernardi anyone, Scott Morrison?

And your language is deliberately misleading. No matter how you look at it, Hanson and Gillard have not joined forces in any shape or form. SM you would make a good spin doctor for the LNP eg. it does not matter what you say or how truthful it is as long as you heap dirt on the opposing side.

Hanson and Howard certainly had more in common than anyone in the ALP and he knew her popularity amongst his own constituency was a threat hence their underhanded actions to unseat Hanson.

I would rather politicians of all stripes be more accountable to the electorate. They never pay either financially or with jail time for their illegal activities, for lying to Parliament, omitting information on their Register of Interests, misusing entitlements etc etc etc

Dear pelican,

But seriously, wouldn't you like to see the return of The Oxleymorn?

PS That should read The Oxleymoron.

Yes, that's The Oxleymoron. Yes, you know, Pauline Hanson ...... The Oxleymoron.

The Oxleymoron.
Mr Opinion,
there are way too many morons but they're not from Oxley, their strongholds are Sydney & Melbourne.

Dear individual,

I don't think you get.

Think oxymoron. Get it now. Oxymoron - Oxleymoron.

Get it now?

No one could seriously link Hanson and Gillard. Hanson wins hands down as at least she holds to her convictions. Ms Gillard's convictions extend to knifing a sitting PM to putting her personal agenda in front of her party and this country. Hanson might be naive but Gillard holds all the cunning conniving of one well established feminist interested purely in power.

Oxymoron - Oxleymoron.
Mr Opinion,
If that doesn't infer (the) oxley-moron then yes, I didn't get it.

Lexi,

What Juliar is doing is naked Xenophobia. There has always been a requirement of employers to show that they have attempted to employ Australians, and there is no indication whatsoever that there is a spike in rorting of the system. All customs or police reports indicate that this policy has a high level of compliance.

This is a thought bubble that Juliar got when visiting western Sydney, and discovering how polarised the community was with being dumping ground for illegal immigrants. Juliar could not credibly do anything against illegal immigrants, so fabricated a problem so that she could be seen to be taking action against those dirty foreigners taking our jobs. A ploy right out of the Hanson playbook.

Am I alone in thinking that Pauline "The Oxleymoron" Hanson and her followers are just a bunch of neo-Nazis?

Mr Opinion,

I don't think you are alone in incorrectly thinking that all followers of PH are Neo Nazis. Julia Gillard is simply an opportunist using xenophobia to drum up support for Labor.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Does PH in your above reply stand for "The Oxleymoron"?

Shadow Minister,

You say that there is very little rorting associated with 457 visas, but there is only about one inspector to every 2500 employers. How can you be sure that some of them, especially the smaller companies, are not routinely circumventing legal requirements, such as on employing Australians first, as has been happening in the US? See

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/06/18/347849/-How-To-Not-Hire-An-American-MUST-SEE-VIDEO

The high immigration and 457 visas that you advocate are not making us any richer on average. See the link in my previous post on GDP per capita.

You are probably right about Julia Gillard wanting to distract people from the asylum seeker issue.

Divergence,

The number of inspectors is an issue especially since Labor drastically cut the funding to this department. However, considering that the vast majority of employers don't employ 457 visa workers, and the inspectors' function is to to review every instance but to perform random audits and suspicious activity.

The reported non compliance with the regulations as reported from these audits is less than 2%, which I believe compares favourably with compliance to similar legislation.

This sums up the issue very succinctly.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillards-foreign-worker-attack-hits-home-but-doesnt-help-her-20130318-2gb9m.html

The pattern of how these visas are being actually used is quite suspicious, as pointed out by Tim Colebach.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-books-are-being-cooked-on-457-visas-20130318-2gb0s.html#ixzz2NxG0NpgG

Hanson and her followers are just a bunch of neo-Nazis?
Mr Opinion,
better check again because the Nazis were Sozialists. I don't think Hanson is one.

Dear individual,

No, they were National Socialists - not socialists. The two are quite different.

Mr Opinion,
National, Federal no difference at all.

D,

If the figures are suspicious, then how come the inspectors have not found any more cases of non compliance with the law?