The government is expected to announce today that it is adopting most of the recommendations of last year's independent review of the sc457 visa program, with particular emphasis on prosecuting employers for breaching sponsorship obligations, according to The Australian.

The Liberal government is tightening checks on the sc457 temporary worker visa with the introduction of various measures including the introduction of penalties and the sharing of data with the Australian Taxation Office, to ensure overseas workers receive their nominated salary and are not undercutting Australian jobs, reports the Australian

 “We will proactively prosecute and name and shame offenders exploiting overseas workers and misusing the program,’’ the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Michaelia Cash, said.

Senator Cash said the economic and productivity benefits of a well-managed overseas worker program are significant, yet understated, and blamed the former Labour government for mismanaging the program and causing community confidence in its value and integrity to be undermined.

Aiming to restore confidence in the program, the recommendations the government is adopting will include increased focus on targeting employers who seek to misuse the program, introducing greater transparency around the department’s sanctions processes and the sharing of information between key agencies.

The Australian reports that Senator Cash will confirm today that the government will not remove the current labour-market testing arrangements that require businesses to test ­employment markets first to find domestic skilled workers before turning to the 457 visa program.

Australia has steadily shifted away from being a country that wanted immigrants and their families and subsequent generations to stay and become part of nation building to a country that prefers temporary migrants.

I wrote on the this forum last year that the OECD’s report on global migration confirmed this trend. The report states that  Australian immigration in the past two decades strongly suggest that Australia can no longer be regarded as a settler immigration nation. 2012-13 immigration data shows that 190,000 arrived under the permanent immigration program (or 192,599 when Trans-Tasman migrants are included).

In the same year, 725,043 – or 766,273 including Trans-Tasman migrants – migrants arrived on temporary immigration visas. This included 258,248 on working holiday visas, 259,278 on international student visas and 126,350 on temporary work (skilled) visas.

With permanent migration quotas amounting to about a quarter of the temporary migrant visa grants (excluding tourists), the figures roughly translate to mean that for every 4 hopeful temporary entrants, only 1 will have a chance of getting permanent residency.

The government has a clear preference for temporary migration over permanent migration. This forces tough competition in the capped permanent visa program as the government’s stated objective is to only let through the ‘best and the brightest’.

Xu Jiayin, one of China’s richest men, was ordered to sell his Point Piper mansion within 90 days because it was purchased without approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board, according to a report in The Australian.

This is the first time since 2006 a treasurer has used FIRB rules to enforce a sale of foreign-owned residential property, according to the report.

The Treasury says that several properties are being investigated with the Treasure's office now being inundated with phone calls raising concerns about other unlawful purchases. A treasury spokesmen however denies a ‘witch-hunt’ is on.

“We definitely don’t want to create an atmosphere of xenophobia or anything else. We actually just want to be in a position where we maintain, preserve, and enhance the integrity of the foreign investment regime,” he said.

Real estate agents predict that the forced sale could result in a loss of up to 20 per cent of the property value for Mr Xu. Lawyers are warning that people not properly qualified or insured to advise foreign investors for such large investments are leading them in troubled waters.

Prices of luxury homes in Sydney spiked by 11 percent last year with no signs of it settling down as foreign interest in luxury properties not only from China but also Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey and Nigeria rise. ‘Ultra-high net worth individuals’ from these countries are apparently on the hunt for luxury international properties.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has kicked off a National Compliance Monitoring Campaign and will target about 1200 businesses found to have underpaid their workers over the past three years.

Employers who have previously short-changed their staff $500 or more will be audited this year to ensure they have not ignored advice and assistance given to them by Fair Work inspectors in response to their past contraventions, according to a statement from the ombudsman Natalie James.

“We obviously frown on those who refuse to fix problems or continually flout their workplace obligations so they have a competitive advantage over others doing the right thing,” said Ms James.

Maximum penalties for contraventions of workplace laws are $51,000 per breach for a company and $10,200 for an individual. Business sponsors of foreign workers also face the risk of losing their sponsorship rights.

Ms James says the campaign aims to assess the level of behavioural change among employers to assist the Agency understand the drivers of non-compliance and to help inform future pro-active compliance and education activities.

Recently, cleaning contractors came under the spotlight after spot checks resulted in wage recoupments of almost $763,000 for some 1200 workers who were mainly overseas born or on student visas. Latest data indicates there are almost 25,000 businesses operating in the cleaning services industry in Australia employing almost 100,000 workers.

With some analysts predicting that the Australian dollar is heading toward the 50/60 cent levels against the US Dollar, Australia is once again priming up as the world’s favourite destination. "U.S. travelers would choose to visit Australia over almost every other country on Earth,” according to TripAdvisor. The Huffingtonpost recently updated a story it carried some years ago, to once again highlight the reason why people choose Australia, with notable attractions/activities actually missing the list.

• In Australia, it's incredibly normal to take a gap year. Taking 12 months off between school and going to university has become almost a rite of passage for the estimated 200,000 school leavers each year.
• Australians have swimming pools in their oceans.
• People in Australia really know coffee. Starbucks tried to invade the scene a few years ago, but Aussies didn’t break from their traditional coffee haunts Starbucks was forced to close 61 of its 87 Australian stores and eventually sell out off its remaining operations.
• Two words: Gold. Coast.
• Precious, just-born, infant turtles crawl into the Australian sea from January until March. And there are turtle guides who will help you find and say hi to them.
• The minimum wage in Australia is $16.88. SIXTEEN DOLLARS AND EIGHTY-EIGHT CENTS! In America, minimum wage ranges by state from $5.15 (Georgia) to $9.19 (Washington). The ugly truth is that sometimes, workers have to sue their employers to get their fair share.
• A bunch of lakes in Australia are pink, thanks to algae and prawns.
• You can apply for a travel visa to Australia online. No consulates, no lines, no heartache.
• Australians don't sacrifice sustainability for tourism. Lord Howe Island, the most beautiful island of coral reefs, is only allowed to host 400 tourists at any given time, no matter how many want to come.
• There are more kangaroos than humans in Australia, which makes life more adorable. To deal with all those marsupials, experts have concocted kangaroo birth control and a national Kangaroo Management Plan. Another population control -- sniffle, tear, sniffle -- is the kangaroo burger.
  Australians make a vacation out of helping the planet-- on a conservation holiday, you can measure plants in the rainforest or monitor owl species at the base of the Australian Alps
• Everybody in Australia has accents.
• When life gets rough (from eating too much Vegemite or winning too much rugby), Australians can always escape to the perfect blue heaven known as Lake McKenzie.
• In Australia, there are creatures called fairy penguins. After they get home from long days at sea, you can visit their colonies by night.
• The Great Ocean Road, the Aussies' seaside version of Route 66, takes you past some pretty stellar rock formations.
• Australians have the widest steel arch bridge in the world. You may have heard of it.