'Illegal' labour and inhumane immigration policy
By Jon Singer
The front-page newspaper photos showed workers sitting on the ground, handcuffed or bound with rope. Their employer, Joe Vraca, a farmer at Murchison near Shepparton in Victoria, told the February 20-21 Australian that the workers had been "degraded and demeaned" and "were tied up like cattle and rounded up in a circle. It was disgusting."
Another 44 workers had joined the more than 1000 arrested this year by immigration officials and police for the "crime" of working in Australia without the government's permission.
Responding to the incident, Helen Jarvis, a Democratic Socialist candidate for the NSW Legislative Council, told Green Left Weekly: "This flagrantly inhumane action is no surprise. The Australian government has never been seriously concerned with whether its immigration policy meets human needs or rights.
"Only an open door to all who wish to immigrate can secure the democratic right for all people to choose where they want to live. Anything less contradicts human rights. Applying any criterion means discriminating against someone."
The Sydney Daily Telegraph editorial on February 20 screeched: "Illegal workers take jobs which could be filled by legitimate residents. They are queue-jumpers and cheats."
But fruit-growers, the NSW Farmers' Federation and the Victorian agriculture minister commented that the reason most fruit pickers are on temporary work visas or are "illegals" is because other workers are discouraged by the low pay. Changes last year prevent seasonal workers getting the dole when unemployed.
While Australian Workers' Union Victorian secretary Bill Shorten did call for wage increases and criticised the social security changes, he did not raise the question of organising "illegal" or temporary visa workers to campaign for this. Instead, he counterposed jobs for "Australian" workers to those for other workers, echoing calls by Labor's federal employment spokesperson Martin Ferguson for a crackdown on illegal migrant workers and their employers.
Illegal workers are not the cause of unemployment. The Immigration Department estimates there are only 50,000 "overstayers", compared with 1.7 million people who are unemployed or underemployed.
"Illegal" workers' lack of rights is used to keep down wages and conditions. Union members' interests lie in winning and improving these workers' rights.
Ferguson joined ALP immigration spokesperson Con Sciacca and opposition leader Kim Beazley on February 18 in calling for increased numbers of business and skilled immigrants and a cut in family reunion immigration (such immigration has already dropped from 7580 parents in 1996-97 to 1080 last year).
Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett and federal immigration minister Philip Ruddock and treasurer Peter Costello support similar proposals, while Democrats spokesperson Andrew Bartlett has called for improved migrant services and stronger environmental legislation.
The politicians and the media pundits' views are summed up by the Telegraph: "Migration should enrich the country, not be a drain on its resources". Yet, most studies suggest this is the case.
The Telegraph concludes: "The opportunity to become an Australian resident is a right that must be earned". But not if you are born here! The idea that those who already live in Australia can determine who else can is nationalistic and chauvinist.
When the call for unrestricted immigration is raised, the standard response is that this would result in environmental disaster, with hundreds of millions of people moving to Australia.
Arguing that better services and environmental protection are needed if immigration to Australia is to increase, Bartlett suggests an analogy: "There's no point inviting people home to live with you if the roof leaks, there's no running water and there's nothing in the fridge".
Australia is not the land of milk and honey, a utopia for which all would reject their own country. Reality contradicts Bartlett's assertion that immigration policy is "not as simple as just opening the doors".