Welcome Illigals!
S.Benedikt
Backpackers flout labour laws
By MATTHEW BAYLEY
09sep01
BACKPACKERS working illegally in Sydney are earning more than $5000 a month
tax-free, an investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has revealed.
Thousands of travellers are being paid cash-in-hand on the black economy by
unscrupulous employers who are keen to exploit cheap labour.
The Federal Government believes that at least 30,000 people are working
illegally in Australia, mostly in the construction and hospitality
industries.
Many of these workers are backpackers from the United Kingdom and the US who
overstay their visas. The Sunday Telegraph investigation, conducted last
week, revealed just how easy it is to pick up illicit employment.
Within 48 hours, this reporter - posing as a British backpacker - was
offered four jobs, despite explaining he was not allowed to work under
Australian law.
"It's all cash, there's no tax," said one man who runs a business selling
oil paintings.
"You should have a working visa and a tax-file number but we've got loads of
people who don't. It doesn't matter."
In one instance, a man running a furniture-removal business approached me
outside a Sydney hostel and offered me a job paying $10 an hour
cash-in-hand.
When I explained I did not have a working visa, the man insisted this would
not present a problem. He added that he regularly patrolled streets popular
with backpackers, such as Victoria St in Kings Cross, asking travellers if
they want work.
The large scale of the problem has sparked outrage from the Federal
Government, unions and the Labor Council.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said: "It's something
the Government is particularly concerned about. These people are taking jobs
that should belong to Australians.
"This is the bad side of the booming tourist industry and the strong
economy. There are a lot of people who want to abuse that."
Travellers looking to make money have little problem finding work.
Noticeboards at Sydney hostels are crammed with adverts for employment, many
offering cash.
One particularly lucrative business - which readily employed this reporter -
involves the door-to-door selling of oil paintings imported from art schools
in Europe.
British woman Lisa, 19, in Australia on a three-month tourist visa, claimed
to have earned $5000 cash in the last month alone.
"I've earned more here than I would in Britain," she said.
"I'm going to use the money to pay for my student accommodation at home."
Backpackers selling the oil paintings visit business premises in the daytime
and homes in the evenings. The average picture price is $150, of which the
seller gets to keep at least $50.
For Lisa, a visit last week to one Baulkham Hills home yielded 30 sales,
netting her a cool $1125.
Carlos, who runs the business, said he had overstayed in Australia by three
months.
"I'm not supposed to be here," the blond-haired Briton admitted. "We're
illegal workers.
"You'll be all right (without a working visa) but if we get into trouble
we'll just say you didn't tell us. We like people who are desperate for
cash; they work harder. It's easy money. We expect everyone to sell three
paintings a day, which is at least $150 a day cash-in-hand."
While some businesses hiring travellers insist employees have work visas,
others are prepared to turn a blind eye.
"You have to have a working visa to work in Australia," said one man who
runs a sales business.
"But you don't have to show us."
Government figures show that 14,000 visitors annually stay longer than their
visas allow, with a total of 58,000 people unaccounted for at present.
The UK has the largest number of overstayers, with 6000, followed by the US
on 4900 and the Philippines with 3700.
An estimated 2000 people were caught working illegally on tourist visas last
year.
Travellers caught working illegally have their visas instantly cancelled and
are forced to leave the country. But in hundreds of cases, the Government is
forced to pay for their repatriation at a cost to the taxpayer of hundreds
of thousands of dollars.
At present, no penalty is imposed on employers taking on illegal workers,
but the Government is considering plans to make it a crime.
NSW Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union secretary Andrew Ferguson said
an estimated 10,000 people were working illegally in the construction
industry alone.
"It's a very big problem and it's getting worse," he said. "It's very easy
to get a cash-in-hand job and there are a lot of unscrupulous employers who
will not only employ a person illegally but actually go looking for them.
"We've got massive youth unemployment in western Sydney, where people can't
get apprenticeships because the employers are using cheap labour."
NSW Labor Council secretary John Robertson said the problem of illegal
workers should be tackled "as a matter of urgency".