Dutton had a big crack at Cannon-Brookes on Channel Nine's Today on Wednesday morning, a day after the government axed the 457 program and replaced it with a new system of temporary skilled migration visas.

"Ok. Do you know of Mike Cannon-Brookes?" asked host Karl Stefanovic. "I think he is the co-founder of Atlassian. His tech company is bigger than Qantas. He said to The Australian that 457 Visas were essential for Australia and any move to make bridging the talent gap more difficult would be bad for the country."

"Well let's have a look at what work they’re doing in the local market," Dutton replied.

"How many young Australians are they employing? Are they going into schools looking for young kids to come and work in jobs? Are they employing mature aged workers who have found themselves out of a job elsewhere? Let's have a look at the details."



But here's the thing (and there's always thing). Cannon-Brookes made the comments about 457s last year, well before the government announced its crackdown.