Malcolm Turnbull does a Donald Trump: Toughens Australian foreign worker visas used largely by Indians

Australia will abolish a temporary work visa popular with foreigners and replace it with a visa requiring better English-language and work skills, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday.

Turnbull rejected suggestions the visa policy change was in response to far-right wing political parties, such as One Nation, demanding more nationalistic policies.

But in a Facebook announcement Turnbull said: “Our reforms will have a simple focus: Australian jobs and Australian values.”

Turnbull said the visa change would attract better skilled workers and see Australians employed over cheap foreign workers brought in under the old 457 visa programme.

“We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains – Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs,” he said. “We’ll no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians.”

This is similar to US President’s policies on companies hiring cheap labour from developing countries, largely India. Trump is looking to tighten the H-1B visa regime used by skilled workers to rein in the number of visas that are issued to foreign labour. ‘Bring back jobs to America,” he says. The White House said on Tuesday that Trump is soon expected to sign an executive order – invoking the Buy …read more