Media Release

KAP Leader and Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter says the Government has - on the eve of an election - provided proof of their complete “lunacy” by pushing the privatisation of Australia’s visa processing system – a deal media reports is worth more than $300 million a year to the winning company.

Last week the Department of Home Affairs listed the next steps in the process for the 10 year contract – including a global digital platform to process applications for temporary Australian visas which is expected to reach 13 million by the year 2029 when the system would still be in place.

“The Government has provided on the eve of an election further proof of complete lunacy – and I hope that the PM tough as he is, forgets about his precariousness and does the right thing, knock it on the head and knock the Minister on the head,” Mr Katter said.

“They can’t forget that they are ‘the same as’ the ALP - the free market party. Free markets means electricity prices up 300%, food, farm-gate-to-plate prices up 200%, they annihilate all manufacturing in Australia.

“They’ve sold the biggest farm in Australia to foreigners, the second biggest farm to foreigners, the third biggest farm to foreigners. We have to buy everything from overseas, but we’ve only three quarries to pay for it - coal, iron ore and gas.

“The 640,000 people teaming in from countries with $20 a week wages, no democracy, no rule of law, we know why they are here, they are here to undermine our pay and conditions and take away our jobs, and of course drowning our way of life and values.

“Privatise the visa system and you’ll have the same outcome you did when you privatised the work allocations from the social welfare department. Just two women who are social workers on $50k a year – one reportedly sold her business for $124m, the other one would make her look like a pauper. In the meantime now half Australia’s youth have established that they don’t have to go to work under a privatised system.

“I have one thing to say about this Ministerial proposal and its components – a bunch of petty, brainless, self-serving people thieving off decent hard working Australians. Who work increasingly for less and less while CEOs, of the once Australian owned companies, pay themselves $10m and $20m a year - more than most of us could earn in a lifetime.

“I’ve sent an urgent plea to the PM and I personally feel he is struggling to get away from this economic fundamentalism and get back to a more aggressive Australianism,” Mr Katter said.

—ENDS—