PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced he is scrapping the controversial 457 visa program for skilled migrants as part of a bid to tackle unemployment.

The Prime Minister says jobs must go to Australians first, before businesses consider hiring foreign workers.

He said while Australia was multicultural, it needed to focus on local jobs.

“We have and we always will be an immigration nation, but we must ensure that the foundation of that success is maintained and the foundation is that our migration system is seen to work in the national interest,” Mr Turnbull said at a Parliament House press conference today.

“That it is seen to deliver for Australians. It is seen to ensure that Australian jobs are filled by Australians wherever possible.

“We’re abolishing 457 visas, the visas which bring temporary foreign workers into our country.”

As at September 30, 2016 there were 95,757 workers in Australia on primary 457 visas.

The program will be replaced by another visa program, with new restrictions.

“It is important businesses still get access to the skills they need to grow and invest, so the 457 visa will be replaced by a new temporary visa, specifically designed to recruit the best and brightest in the national interest,” Mr Turnbull said.

.@TurnbullMalcolm says the new system will be highly focused on skills shortages and gaps MORE: https://t.co/R6wIVDxe4k pic.twitter.com/wM8K6ICGvk — Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 18, 2017

“It will ensure foreign workers are brought into Australia in order to fill critical skill gaps and not brought in simply because an employer finds it easier to recruit a foreign worker than go to the trouble of hiring an Australian.”

Pauline Hanson claimed One Nation was the inspiration behind the ban.

The Government will deny their tough talk on immigration & plan to ban 457 visas is because of One Nation but we all know the truth! #auspol — Pauline Hanson (@PaulineHansonOz) April 18, 2017

The new visa would better target skills shortages and set new standards for English language proficiency.

It would also introduce requirements for previous work experience and labour market testing before businesses could hire foreign workers.

“Firstly, there will be a two-year visa stream, with a broader list of occupations, reduced from the current list by over 200,” the Prime Minister said.

“So, this is a very substantial reduction in the list of skills that qualify for these visas. There will be a two-year visa that will require, as will a second visa for four years, two years work experience, prior work experience.

“That is not the case at the moment.

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Make no mistake, the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own. — Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) April 18, 2017

“It will require in the case of the four-year visa a higher standard of English.

“It will require a proper police record, a criminal check, which is not the case at the moment.

“It will require in almost all cases mandatory labour market testing. Again, a very significant change.

“These new visas will ensure that Australian businesses have access to the workers from overseas they need to fill real skill gaps, but not otherwise, and that Australians, wherever possible will be able to fill them.”

BUSINESS REACTION

Business groups have welcomed the announcement, saying it would help businesses continue to access workers where there were skill shortages in Australia.

“Public confidence in the skilled migration system is vital, and this announcement will help to achieve that confidence,” Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Acting Chief Executive Jenny Lambert said.

“It is a chance to hit the ‘reset button’ on temporary skilled migration.”

Ms Lambert said industry would work with the Government to ensure the new visa system was a valuable tool to fill short-term gaps with responsiveness and “sensible regulation”.

Farmers and other employers in regional Australia should not be impacted by the changes.

Harvey Norman chair Gerry Harvey said foreign workers were crucial for regional areas because unemployed Australians in the nation’s capitals were “too lazy” to look for work in the country.

“There’s the expectation that someone will look after them,” Mr Harvey said.

“I’ve got a number of businesses apart from Harvey Norman, including some farms,” he told News Corp.

“If there weren’t 457 visas I wouldn’t get any workers.”

Mr Harvey said there was no issue finding capable workers for his Harvey Norman stores.

The new system will be in place by March 2018 with implementation to begin immediately.

Young Australians would benefit most from the new system, Mr Turnbull said. He accused Opposition leader Bill Shorten of selling out workers as Employment Minister. “More than 110,000 foreign workers entered the country in 2013 under the then Labor government,” he said. “Some were allowed to work in the fast food sector at the expense of young Australians who were looking for work. “That will not happen under this government.”

TOURISM INDUSTRY CAUTIOUS OVER CHANGES

Australian tourism leaders cautiously welcomed changes to the 457 visa system, despite acknowledging it may mean a shortfall of workers in the rapidly growing hotel industry in the short-term.

Tourism Accommodation Australia CEO Carol Giuseppi said the changes were about targeting genuine skills shortages and addressing training requirements.

“We will need greater investment in training and development from the government to ensure Australians are attracted to the hospitality industry,” said Ms Giuseppi.

“But we’re confident that if we work with the Federal Government we will reach an outcome that ensures more Australian jobs.”

She said the key to the announcement was striking the right balance between skilled overseas workers and well-trained Australians.

“Yes there will be some tightening (in the workforce) while it’s worked out.”

Australian Hotels Association CEO Stephen Ferguson said they were comfortable with the changes providing hotels could still hire cooks and chefs from overseas.

He said the rapid growth in the hotels industry and the rising standard of hotel food, meant Australian chefs and cooks alone could not fill the demand.

“It’s a highly skilled workforce and everyone supports the government’s and opposition’s views on trying to employ Australians first,” Mr Ferguson said.

“Unfortunately our local workforce just doesn’t have the numbers in those skilled occupations to meet demand, now or in the longer term.”

Mr Ferguson said as long as chefs and cooks remained “on the occupational lists” they would be happy to work with the government on the issue.

“If those skilled occupations are left on the list, and we understand that to be the case, we will work in with those other requirements – for better English and so on.”

Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond urged the government to ensure the changes did not disadvantage the tourism industry.

Ms Osmond said a continuous pipeline of skilled labour from overseas was vital for sectors such as hospitality which had ongoing shortages of key staff such as chefs and managers.

“Tourism is now a super growth industry in Australia and a critically important contributor to the national economy,” she said.

“The industry directly employed 580,200 people in 2015-16 or 4.9 per cent of the national workforce and it continues to grow.”

Australia’s airlines were not immediately concerned with the announcement flight attendants and pilots would be among the professions axed from the list skilled migrants could apply for here.

QantasLink currently employs four pilots on 457 visas but Jetstar and Qantas have no other flight crew members on the visas.

Qantas spokesman Stephen Moynihan said the airline was recognised as an “employer of choice”.

“We work hard to recruit the best Australian talent and have only a handful of staff working on 457 visas out of 30,000 Qantas employees,” said Mr Moynihan.

Virgin Australia was also confident it would not be affected by the changes, and Tigerair was considering the announcement.

.@PeterDutton_MP says the new system will include a 2yr visa with no permanent residency and a 4yr high skilled visa https://t.co/R6wIVDxe4k pic.twitter.com/MosTEeKJFA — Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 18, 2017

NEW VISA SYSTEM

Two new visas will be introduced to replaced the scrapped system.

A two-year temporary visa will be introduced, along with a new four-year visa with a prerequisites for two years’ work experience, an english language proficiency and a background criminal check.

The new four-year visa will cost $2400, substantially more than the current $1810 application fee, while the two-year visa will cost $1150.

Under the new visas, the range of jobs foreign workers can apply for will be slashed by more than 200 occupations.

Current skilled migrants on 457 visas in Australia will not be impacted by the changes; they will apply only to new applicants.

A minimum market salary rate will be set so overseas workers cannot be employed to undercut Australian workers.

“These new visas will ensure that Australian businesses have access to the workers from overseas they need to fill real skill gaps, but not otherwise,” Mr Turnbull said.

“And that Australians, where vacancies are there, where opportunities are there, Australians will be able to fill them.”

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the change would be “welcomed by all Australians”.

“At the moment the existing 457 visa program is conducted for a period of four years, but essentially it is open-ended and it results, in many cases, in a migration outcome, somebody going into permanent residency and becoming a citizen,” Mr Dutton said.

“It’s a significant tightening of the way in which that program operates.

“This is about putting Australians first for Australian jobs.

“It is about making sure that where those jobs can’t be filled, particularly in regional areas, that there is the ability to bring in that overseas worker into that job that can’t be filled by an Australian worker.”

The four-year visa would also significantly reduce the number of migrants able to apply for residency as it was targeted at higher skills and had a reduced range of jobs foreign workers could apply for.

Mr Dutton said the new system was an attempt to “clean up Labor’s mess”.

Firefighters, police officers, actors, dentists, shearers, zookeepers and pilots are among the more than 200 jobs that foreign workers will no longer be able to apply for.

Labor has said it will consider the proposal but is concerned the announcement was a name change without any change in policy.

“We’ll seriously consider any proposal once the Government releases all the details – but right now we’re concerned that Mr Turnbull is just rebadging the same visa system with the same dodgy loopholes,” Shadow Immigration Minister Shayne Neumann and Shadow Employment Minister Brendan O’Connor said in a joint statement.

The announcement comes after the Turnbull Government released new figures showing the number of 457 visas issued had dropped dramatically since Opposition leader Bill Shorten was responsible for the program’s oversight as Employment Minister in the Gillard government.

Mr Turnbull also said a new training fund would be established, among other reforms.

The Government late last year announced it would review the number of occupations which were eligible for 457 visas, of which there were more than 600.

WHAT IS A 457 VISA?

* The 457 visa program allows business to employ foreign workers for a period up to four years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers.

* The numbers are uncapped and there is no limit on the number of times they can travel in and out of Australia.

* Foreign workers can bring their families to work or study.

* Employers must apply to sponsor a 457 worker or enter into a formal labour agreement with the government.

* They must show they are training locals.

* As at September 30, 2016 there were 95,757 workers in Australia on primary 457visas and 76,430 secondary visa holders (members of their family).

* But numbers are in decline — in March there was a 9.2 per cent drop in primary 457 visa holders compared to 2015.

* In July 2013 new laws came into effect, including giving Fair Work Australia the power to investigate breaches of the system.

* Labor called for jobs to be advertised locally for at least four weeks before a foreigner is sourced.