The Guardian 22 March, 2006
Boss’s death threats
A Temporary Personal Protection Order has been slapped on a boss using cut-price guest worker visas after a Canberra Magistrate’s Court heard he issued death threats. "He said he was going to smash my ‘maggot head’ and kill me", said worried union organiser David Bibo.
"He’s demonstrated he’s a volatile individual in the past."
The alleged threats followed reports that a hospitality worker had been kidnapped after complaining to the Department of Immigration about guest workers being abused by Canberra employers.
Mr Bibo backed claims by ACT Senator Kate Lundy that Margarito "Gary" Sorrosa had complained to the Immigration Department about the abuse, contradicting the federal department’s assertion that it had no knowledge of such incidents. Despite Immigration Department claims that Mr Sorrosa never spoke to it, a witness who has been in the Canberra hospitality industry for years supports Mr Sarrosa’s version, even naming the Immigration official he spoke to.
Mr Sorrosa alleges that three days after making his complaint to Immigration in October last year, five men arrived at his house, forced him into a car and drove him to Sydney International Airport.
On the way, they were stopped by NSW police near Mittagong because the driver was speeding. Sorrosa told the police he had been abducted and one of the officers reportedly drew his gun before handcuffing one of the men.
Department of Immigration figures released this week show 1,000 people a week arriving in Western Australia alone, on temporary working visas, which unions claim is creating a slave trade that will lower wages and working conditions.
An Immigration Department spokesman rejected the suggestion, saying the program was professionally and competently run. Immigration expert Bob Kinnaird says some of the skilled migrants, most of whom were tradesmen, accepted very low pay in the hope of being sponsored by their employer for permanent residency when their four-year visa expired.
He also warned that authorities, who are desperate to help fill the skills shortage, sometimes issued the subclass visas, known as Section 457 visas, to poorly qualified tradesmen.