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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-30 Daily Xml
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Temporary Visa Holders

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:40): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Trade and Investment a question about COVID-19 responses.

Leave granted.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE: South Australia's population and economic growth has been heavily reliant on inward migration. We have welcomed tens of thousands of people on various temporary visas who work, pay taxes and contribute to our community. Unfortunately, they have been denied assistance by the federal government during the COVID-19 emergency. The Minister for Trade and Investment has announced modest grants, in the hundreds of dollars, for international students. Nothing has been announced for workers on temporary visas. My questions to the minister are:

1. What is the minister's advice to workers on temporary visas who have lost their jobs and can't access federal government support?

2. Does the minister agree with the Prime Minister that people should simply go home—even if their home, the place they work, live and contribute to, is in South Australia?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:41): I thank the honourable member for her question. Migration issues and the like and Immigration SA are handled by my hardworking colleague the Hon. David Pisoni, the Minister for Innovation and Skills. I will probably refer most of her question to him for answers. In relation to one particular aspect, that visa holders are able to access their superannuation, the federal government did make that available to them, so it will be all dependent, I guess, on a case-by-case basis.

I am advised that employers are making a reasonable contribution, as we know, on behalf of their employees into superannuation. I think you can access up to $10,000; I think my advice, from my recollection, is $10,000 of that superannuation. Certainly, for some of those visa holders, while it is not a huge amount of money, nonetheless it will help pay some bills and tide them over, we hope, until we are through this pandemic that we are going through at the moment. But, for the body of the honourable member's question, I will take that on notice and refer it to the Minister for Innovation and Skills in the other place.

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