Bastiaan en Lily's blog

I was shocked to read this in the online paper today:
Visa article on www.news.com.au
This is the same xenophobic crap we get in Holland right now. Well let me tell you something about 457 Visa''s as this is the Visa that allows me to work in Australia for the next 4 years.
Forgetting for a moment how high the requirements are for getting a 457 Visa, the minimum salary level is but an inkling of this, lets look at this from an employers perspective...

First off, you CAN''T EMPLOY someone on a 457 Visa unless you can PROVE to the immigration service that there is NO Australian available to fill that spot. My employer has been actively advertising the spot I''ve filled for the past one and a half years without success.
I happen to be in a niche market so its hard to find local people with the needed skills.
Second, the initial cost of hiring me are staggering compared to hiring a local, they had much higher costs recruiting me, they carried all the costs for getting the 457 Visa in order, and they carried most of the cost migrating me to Australia.
The ongoing costs for hiring me I assume are the same if they would have hired an Australian, that said, that in part is because I''m from Holland and Holland has got good ties with Australia meaning I am entitled to some important things such as LIMITED medicare and can get private health care insures pretty much like anyone else. If I was from another country there is a good chance I would not be entitled to medicare and as such would get very limited cover through private health care, and my employer would be fully liable for any medical costs I incur!
Finally for me this means that if the company I work for becomes a victim of the Global Financial Crisis and I loose my job, I have 28 days to find another employer that is able and willing to go through this strict process of hiring me or I get booted out of the country.
The bottom line for my employer is, if they had a choice between hiring me, or hiring a local that has enough skills to do the job, they would hire a local without a second thought.
Now my employer was in good nick before they hired me, they are in better nick after, but I can imagine that many employers who go through the stress and costs of hiring a 457 Visa holder does so because they have a damn good reason to do so, not because they think its cool.
For many of these employers they would have a serious problem if they could not hire foreigners, possibly bringing them even closer to the brink in these already stressing times, very probably resulting in more Australians loosing their jobs as these companies fold for no apparent other reason then dumb xenophonic politicians not allowing them to employ the people they actually need!
Finally, I am also more then willing to teach and share my skills to any Australian wishing to learn and am already doing so within the boundries of my employment. If I was to choose to spend a night a week of my time before a classroom I would happily invest such time was it not, that I would be breaking the conditions of my 457 Visa!