Last year the Albanese government tightened migrant intake numbers, largely targeting temporary skilled migration and international students while looking afresh at the occupations needed to plug skills shortages.
As it pushes through large-scale citizenship ceremonies to cut backlogs before the federal election, a political brawl has erupted over whether this is being done to stack seats being targeted by Labor with grateful voters.
Oblivious to the furore, a young migrant chef quietly finishes her shift in a café in regional Victoria’s Kyneton, studiously packing food into storage containers and labelling them with a black pen. On the other side of the kitchen door, there’s the lunchtime buzz, the scent of fresh coffee and the animated chatter of customers. But today is different.
The last shift
Gurgeet Kaur has cooked hundreds of meals, done all the training required for her temporary work visa, has moved to the regions in accordance with the rules and has earned far in excess of the points required to be eligible for permanent residency. But the offer to stay permanently from the government never came. Today is her last day here, and she’s shattered.
“I have a son,” she says. “He is almost three years old. He got [kindergarten] admission. If I have to move interstate, that’s really hard for me. We’ve been here nearly five years.”
Kaur came to Australia with her husband from India in July 2019. She could stay if her employer could afford to sponsor her but that requires a huge financial outlay of government and legal costs of about $15,000. It’s money the café doesn’t have.
“Its blackmail,” says café owner Daniel Richards (pictured below). “If you pay the money you get the workers. If you don’t pay the money you don’t get the workers.”
Scams and scammers
As word spread of Kaur’s distress, scam employers emerged from their swamps, telling her if she can stump up $25,000, then $50,000, then $85,000, they’d sponsor her. But they warn that she shouldn’t expect a job or an income. And the deals strictly depend on the money being delivered in cash.
“They don’t want a record to show to anyone,” she says. “It’s illegal. That’s why they want cash … They said they don’t have any job opportunities for me. They give me the sponsorship only and I work somewhere else for cash. And that cash I pay to them.”
Kaur’s voice falters. There’s been a groundswell of concern for her and also Richards, who will lose three chefs as permanent resident places pivot to other professions such as nurses, doctors and teachers.
Alongside supporters, the café has been trolled by racists attacking the owner for hiring staff from “the Third World”. Richards would love to hire Australian chefs but has advertised for two years with zero response: “The whole visa situation is broken, manipulating vulnerable people and forcing them to pay more and more money to stay. We invite them here for a better life … Gurgeet’s son is two years old. Let’s just give them a life. They’re not ripping us off.”
Cuts that bleed
Immigration lawyer Carina Ford says it’s not fair to blame the Albanese government for the dysfunction within the system: “They inherited a disaster. It was completely broken. And that is because there wasn’t enough attention put into the migration program and it came with massive backlogs, processing times blew out. It’s still going through a major fix-up.”
Cutting migrant places appears to be the policy du jour as the housing crisis bites. In the independent points category, for example, 30,000 spots have reduced to just 16,000. So the choke point squeezes tighter, with more people in the queue for the precious permanent residency invitation than there are places available.
Just this week Ford has seen 10 people in similar situations: “What really is the issue is cutting down the numbers. As soon as you cut the numbers they’ve got to be pulled from somewhere.”
Crying time
Richard’s requests to speak to Skills and Training Minister Andrew Giles have been ignored. He’s planning to cut the café hours to survive, but then must reduce the shifts of other staff: “As I’ve tried to help them to stay there’s been a lot of tears from them. I haven’t had my tears in front of them but I’ve had my own tears at home. It’s a very sad day.”
As the clock ticks over to the end of her last shift, Kaur says she may end up in Tasmania where she has never lived but where there may be more temporary work visas available and another shot at applying for permanency. But she doesn’t want to go. And Richards can only shake his head as citizenship ceremony season ratchets up and wonder why he has to watch staff who were the beating heart of his business walk out the door.
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Just too too sad.
Just what Dutton and Howard wanted, a permanent underclass.
It is sad for the people involved and disgusting that no one wants to take the time to care.
As the racist trolls roll on, we a re a nation composed mostly of immigrants.
You need an enormous heart to survive in the modern world!
Or be one of the horrid people who have no heart!
I am so sorry this has happened If i had the money I would pay it. Why can’t we be more understanding and compassionate about individual circumstances?
Yeah, the ALP inherited a disaster – and spent three years neglecting it. It pretty much sums up the enduringly flaccid state of the Albanese government.
Excellent to see these issues exposed. It would be great to see something on asylum seekers too. About 7000 of them have been here about 12 years and still don’t have any certainty.
This issue stinks of the LNP rush to help private companies get money through universities or workplaces.
They act in the same way as USA now with republicans forcing the poorest and weakest to cough up hard earned money to maximise their profits .
They did away with Tafes which trained our youth and refugees and led them into lucrative universities who left them unskilled for the workforce
Courtesy of John Howard’s Workchoices!
I have a Nepali friend who came here nine years ago. He did an Honours Degree in Metal Engineering at an Australian University, which cost him $170,000. He opened his own restaurant and over several years employed some 40+ people. He has paid his taxes and never had any issue with the police. He is now working as a research engineer for a manufacturing company that supplies BlueScope and Liberty Steel. BUT…the Department Immigration has told him that he must leave Australia this coming November. I reached out to the offices of both A. Albanese and T. Plibersek for character references – neither would offer the young man and assistance. And so, Labor loses a potentially wonderful citizen and I have decided NOT to vote for Labor as a result.
Once out of the country can he apply. Sometimes it takes a holiday in Bali to achieve a result.
Does he just need to exit Australia for a few days and then return. I have friends who went to NZ and then returned. Needed new visa I think.
Dutton wants to cut the number of public servants, like those who are battling with backlogs left by himself and Pezzullo, who showed no interest in immigration because the spotlight was on security in Home Affairs.
Pezzullo gave a speech to Immigration on 3 Feb 2015, where he revealed a new direction for the dept as “gatekeepers” in a globally mobile world, replacing its traditional nation-building role of bringing in “settlers”.
This was his opening public bid in his personal quest for greater glory as Secretary of the much more sexy Home Affairs, which was finally created under Dutton and Morrison in 2017. In other words, Pezzullo chose to diminish or neglect the “settler” function in his thirst for fame by thrashing the security bell.
Pezzullo was an unmitigated disaster, as were Morrison and Dutton, in their decision to subsume Immigration into a minor role in the security-focused Home Affairs with ASIO, Customs and the AFP.
We, including people like Ms Kaur, are now living with the result.
This is so sad for such positive people we need to keep in Australia. It also is a case of the mess left by the Coalition that is hidden from the mainstream. It occurs with incompetence and a shocking disregard for other human beings which is characteristic of the Coalition
This does not make any sense to me full stop. The hospitality industry has for years been notorious for skill shortages, but for also ripping off staff. I lost count of the times I was ripped off and abused by shonky employers! A good mate of mine use to call hospitality the hostility industry.
Yet, here is a good business supporting its staff, but due to a snafu within the Department of Home Affairs (such an Orwellian name) will have to lay off its staff. Australians had better get used to having dark skinned people cooking and serving them. Hospitality is perhaps the most global industry there is. When I worked as a chef it was very common to work with people from all corners of the world. There will forever be a skill shortage in hospitality, unless the skills shortages are suddenly filled by robots, and I don’t see that happening anytime soon!
I hope Gurgeet’s employment situation is sorted out very quickly, like now. But it shouldn’t have to come to an article in The Politics website for immigration and employment issues to be sorted out. But the old saying ‘it’s the squeaky wheel that gets oiled.’
I’m sorry that Daniel Richards has received abuse for employing Non-Australian Citizens. Perhaps those racist bigots would be prepared to offer up their skills, but I don’t think they have any skills to offer. I think they’re to busy being keyboard warriors!
Euan Thomas.
I know two highly motivated, worthwhile, people in similar situations.
One been here with her husband for 8 years. Both working. Her in a cafe. Him driving a delivery vehicle. Child 4 years old. Can’t get permanent residence and worried about visas.
The other here with her husband for 6 years. Her working in a three cafes. Him I’m not sure but full-time employed apparently. 1 year old baby. Just told visa cancelled and has 12 month review.
I understand who made the mess but am not convinced enough has been done to fix it. Like so many other problems this government was left to deal with but didn’t make a noise about and hasn’t done enough.
Like many others this lifelong ALP voter is rethinking who to vote for next time.
Same here John! I met and got to know a young student 6 years ago who has studied hard, qualified and cold not get a sustainable job, had to work as a cleaner!
She is now leaving 7 March to go back to home country and go thru the whole process again!
It’s not just Immigration that has been screwed here, its the entire policy portfolio of Liberal & Coalition Governments which Labor has consistently refused to step up and recitfy,
This is the divide and conquer strategy using Immigration as the means to achieve discord.
I’m saddened and sickened to read this. I’m a 77-year-old woman, and my great-grandfather was an illegal immigrant who jumped ship in Queensland from Denmark over 100 years ago. At his funeral, we were blown away by the number of Europeans who attended—he was known as ‘Big Geoff,’ always ready to extend a helping hand.
I’m proud of the multicultural nation we’ve built over the years. As Noel Pearson said so well, our country stands on three pillars: our First Nations people—the longest continuing culture in the world—our British heritage, and the wonderful migrants who have come from all corners of the globe.
It’s time we grow up as a country, stop blaming governments, and extinguish all forms of racism. We each need to look in the mirror and ask: What are we doing to contribute to unity and cohesion?” And can the media please stop whipping up frenzies all the time and watch your languating.
Dear Doug
It goes further. Remember the ‘au pairs’. Our migration system was originally built on a skills basis which powered our post war industrial boom. Then it became foreign investors who could buy their way in. I also despair that a laborGovt could not be a reforming Govt for fear of being wedged. Who cares about being wedged if you have the numbers in the house. ” Woke just means that you DO give a damn about people”
Peter D. You echo my thoughts about wedging so eloquently. Remember Dutton running down the Immigration Dept so that the backlog when Labor took over was more than one million visas? The Labor Party employed many more people to lessen the backlog. Now Dutton wants those public servants gone, Elon Musk style. Then he will employ more costly consulting firms. Our very own trump.
I am concerned that many ALP voters say that this Government has not done enough. One must realize that a 10 year awful, no hearted government, cannot be reversed in a period of 3 years. This government needs another term to continue to put the heart and concern back into government and the public service for Australia. All in Australia also need to rid themselves of the attitude of ‘me first’ and embrace all those that come to our shores in a compassionate way providing they are not of a criminal mind.