Fed: Ruddock defends crackdown on illegal workers

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2000
Fed: Ruddock defends crackdown on illegal workers

CANBERRA, Aug 21 AAP - Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock today defended the government's
planned crackdown on illegal workers, saying the government aimed to cause as little inconvenience
as possible to employers.

Mr Ruddock said those employers who made reasonable inquiries about eligibility of
their workers could escape prosecution, although others could face fines of up to $66,000
or two years' jail.

He said some 50,000 tourists were overstaying their visas with half taking jobs from
Australian citizens.

"What we are seeking to do is to give those people who make reasonable inquiries as
to people's entitlements to work a defence against any prosecution for engaging people
who are unlawfully in Australia," he said on ABC radio.

"The new regime would enable an employer to effectively avoid any prosecution simply
by obtaining certain basic information about people's entitlements when they put them
on. That system should work.

"What we are seeking to do is to make sure it can work with the least inconvenience
as possible to growers and other employers."

The government's proposed legislation cracking down on employers who hire tourists
without work visas, has prompted wide-ranging concern from industry sectors which rely
on itinerant workers to meet peak demand.

Although fruit picking is the most visible industry sector relying on casual labour,
the problem apparently also applies to the hospitality and sex industries.

Stephen Scott, executive officer of the Northern Victorian Fruit Growers' Association
said producers in one major fruit producing area needed some 10,000 workers a season with
almost half being tourists.

He said some of the bigger growers would need to employ extra staff.

"Some of the growers have upwards of 200-300 people presenting for work on a daily
basis and to have to check the bona fides of every single one ... it just becomes a bureaucratic
nightmare," Mr Scott said on ABC radio.

South Australian Liberal MP Chris Gallus said the proposed changes were causing concern
among farmers.

She said Mr Ruddock had stated he did not intend that growers who hired an ineligible
person on a one-off basis should be penalised.

"But that is not the way the legislation reads," she said. "I would prefer to see
stiffer legislation and stiffer penalties for those who knowingly or recklessly hire someone
who doesn't have a right to work in Australia."

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