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Dr Haneef case exposes the lack of rights with 457 Work visas

Monday 6^th August 2007

When the bodgey terrorist legal case against Dr Mohamed Haneef recently fell to pieces, the federal government still held a ‘trump card’, the ability to pull the Sec. 457 visa that allowed him to come to work in Australia in the first place.

 

The trade union movement has always expressed concern about how the Federal Government was using such visas to fill a whole range of jobs in this country.

 

There is a lot of evidence that such visas have been used to rip off overseas guest workers in many ways.  Being paid below established wages, forced to accept reduced conditions and poor working environments are just some examples.

 

Now we have the ultimate example of how oppressive and nasty these visas can be: all terrorist related charges against Dr Haneef were withdrawn but Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews still used his executive power to not reinstate his 457 visa, preventing him from having the ability to go back to work.

 

The nastiness of the Howard government apparently knows no bounds.  Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie went on the record to say Dr Haneef was welcome to return to his job at the Gold Coast Hospital.

 

The mis-use of Sec 457 visas should not come as any surprise to observers of the Howard government.  When the Federal IR laws via Work Choices were being ramped up again in 2005-06, John Howard overtly asserted that ‘no worker would be worse off’.  Yet a recently published Howard biography revealed that the government always knew some workers would be worse off, as this was explained to the Prime Minister at a briefing given to Cabinet leading up to the new laws being enacted.  Later Howard was to say he could not remember the briefing.

 

Similarly, back with the so called ‘children overboard’ issue, it was subsequently revealed the whole Canberra bureaucracy knew this not to be true.  Somehow the tightly run Howard office was never told.

 

Again with AWB paying bribes worth $300 million to Saddam Hussein.  It was well known in Canberra the AWB was up to no good – except John Howard.

 

Even though it is tempting to see Kevin Andrews as the fall guy for the disgraceful Haneef affair, it is now known the Prime Minister’s office was fully consulted about the pulling of the doctor’s 457 visa.

 

The Prime Minister, Kevin Andrews and the Australian Federal Police continue to play games with the Dr Haneef affair.

 

Regardless, the mis-use of visas like Sec 457 visas stands exposed as a weapon to deny basic workers rights.

 

A recent Senate Inquiry report (30/7) reveals that new measures being proposed to police visas like Sec 457 will fail to address “continual abuse of the 457 temporary work visa to undercut Australian wages and conditions”.  The ALP members of the inquiry particularly pointed out that such work visas were being used to source “cheap labour” rather than a measure “to address skills shortage”.